Milestones III
by DrawnToDarkness
Summary: Continuation of Milestones I & Milestones II. Jess & Becker reach a momentous milestone in their relationship. (Jecker story, with background Conby & Memily.)
1. Wedding

Title: Milestones III  
Author: DrawnToDarkness  
Pairing: Jess/Becker, Connor/Abby, (background Matt/Emily)  
Rating: K+  
Spoilers: General knowledge of the TV series.  
Summary: First in the Milestones III story, written with the prompt 'wedding'. You don't have to have read Milestones I or Milestones II to read this; just know Jess & Becker are an established couple.

Author's Note: I'm still working on the requests I was given - one or two are giving me a bit of a hard time but they'll be written eventually. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of the new story/series.

AN 2: Milestones III will be, as the previous stories in the series, predominantly Jess/Becker orientated and I make absolutely no apologies for it. They are my OTP and always will be. That said, the other characters will play a bigger role in this story than in those that have gone before but my focus is, as always, the Jess and Becker dynamic.

* * *

While most eyes were fixed on the Bride and Groom, the Best Man only had eyes for one person: the Maid of Honour.

It wasn't as much of a cliché as it sounded, given that the Maid of Honour was the woman he'd been in a relationship with for almost a year but, even if it was, Captain Hilary Becker couldn't bring himself to care.

She looked beautiful and, because he could, he leaned over to tell her so.

"Shh." Her cheeks turned a pretty pink, her eyes flickering from the happy couple cutting the cake to look at him. "You're not supposed to be watching me."

"Why not?" He grinned at the way she grew flustered under his gaze – a feat only he, according to her often amused family, could achieve so easily. "You're very watchable."

"Becker." The glare she threw him lacked any real heat, the pleased almost shy smile curling the corners of her lips being what he focused on first. "Behave."

He smirked at her rather than answering. His arm, draped over the back of her chair, moved so he could deliberately brush his fingers tips against the bare skin of her neck and shoulder, an innocent smile plastered onto his face when she turned her head to look at him again. Jess rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the happy couple, though Becker was satisfied when she shifted a little closer in her chair, her head moving to rest on his shoulder as his arm settled more firmly around her.

Feeling eyes on him, he tore his gaze away from her to meet the speculative gaze of their boss. James Lester arched an eyebrow, the look on his face knowing enough that Becker felt his cheeks begin to heat. Looking away, he found himself staring directly at the team leader, Matt Anderson, whose smirk he was able to meet with a pointed look of his own as Emily Merchant, teammate and Matt's date to the wedding, sighed happily and leaned into Matt as she, too, watched the newlyweds.

Newlyweds.

It was hard to believe that they'd actually finally done it.

Though their engagement had lasted just over a year, it still felt to Becker as though the wedding had been a long time in coming. The couple hadn't even started to make concrete plans until six months ago, when Abby had given in to her fiancé's puppy dog eyes and repeated pleading for them to set a date and had enlisted an all-too-eager Jess and Emily to help them make the preparations.

Jess, as everyone had expected given her day job, had excelled at the roll of organiser and unofficial wedding planner. She'd easily navigated the potential stormy seas by reminding the happy couple that compromise was key and had made suggestions that had appeased one and satisfied the other. There were thankfully few arguments leading up to the big day and, while Becker had had to put up with the flat he shared with Jess becoming something akin to Wedding Central, he'd willingly stepped in to help whenever Jess had asked him, knowing it would win points in his favour and that he'd be so very generously rewarded by his considerate girlfriend afterwards.

A small smirk began to play on his lips at the thought of just how he'd been rewarded, one that wasn't wiped away even when Jess glanced at him and, as though she could tell the direction his thoughts had taken, blushed prettily and slapped his shoulder rather ineffectively.

Forcing his mind back to the wedding itself, Becker glanced around the room the reception was being held in. The venue had been one such compromise Jess had brokered between the couple, he knew. Connor had wanted somewhere big and flashy, somewhere he could show off his new bride to the extreme. Abby had wanted somewhere quiet and cosy, big enough to cater to the surprisingly large guest list but with small enough to have an intimate atmosphere.

Somehow, the grand room at the Natural History Museum managed to do both.

It was a subtle nod to what they did for a living, to Connor's fascination with science and Abby's love of animals. He knew at one point they'd been considering holding the reception in one of the local zoos and couldn't help but be a little relieved that they'd chosen to abandon that idea; being surrounded by living animals that reminded him a little too much of their prehistoric counterparts wouldn't have made for a relaxing environment in his opinion.

The room itself was big and spacious, but the way it'd been set up and decorated made it feel smaller than it actually was. The tables were well spaced out, giving enough room for people to wander between them, but close enough for everyone to feel as though they were involved in what was going on. The colour scheme, blue, white and purple, had been chosen by the newlyweds themselves and was proudly on display on the tables in the form of centrepieces made up of candles, flowers and coloured glass beads in clear glass vases.

The bridal party's clothing met the colour scheme requirements, too. The men wore dark blue suits with crisp white shirts. Their waistcoats were a lighter shade of blue with the dark purple Connor had chosen embroidered through it.

Jess and Emily wore dresses in the same light shade of blue, accented by purple accessories and a purple belt just below the bust of the empire-line gowns. Though he'd become accustomed to seeing his girlfriend in shorter skirts, Becker had to admire the way the longer material glided over her curves and swayed around her legs when she walked, offering a tantalising hint at what was underneath but keeping it hidden from view – from everyone but himself, of course.

The bride herself wore a dress that was never the same colour. Without a train that was befitting of most traditional bridal gowns, the white material seemed to change colour depending on what lighting she stood beneath. At some points in the ceremony, Becker would've sworn that the dress was light blue; at others, it looked a pale purple in colour. With thin, off the shoulder straps and a form fitting bodice and skirt that flowed to just below knee length, Abby looked every inch the beautiful bride and Connor's reaction on seeing her for the first time was one Becker knew the men in attendance would tease him about for some time to come, even if not one of them could blame him for being stunned at the sight of her.

Watching the happy couple exchange a kiss after cutting the cake, he felt genuine happiness and warmth blossom in his chest and found his gaze straying, once again, to the woman sitting beside him.

He'd never imagined himself getting married. Ever. The thought of finding someone he'd want to commit to in that way had never crossed his mind, never featured in his plans for the future. He'd been content having casual relationships without expectations, knowing that his choice of career meant he could be called upon to leave anyone he was in a relationship with at any given time.

Even after joining the ARC, though it meant for a more permanent location, he'd never really considered it as a possibility. The job was dangerous, that was a given, but it was also highly classified. He couldn't imagine being involved with someone who didn't know what he did on a daily basis, someone who wouldn't understand why some days he came home wanting nothing more than to forget the rest of the world for a while.

Who didn't know what kind of horrors he saw but couldn't talk about.

Before Jess, he'd never really entertaining the idea of getting romantically involved with a colleague. Yes, it solved a lot of problems but, from what he'd seen over the years, it also caused them, too. He'd not felt as strongly about anyone to chance it before, to take the risk of it maybe not working out on the hope that it would.

He'd fought his feelings for a long time, pretty much since the day he'd stepped off the lift and found her waiting for him, all warm smiles and bright colours. He'd only given up the fight when he'd almost lost her – twice, in a matter of weeks.

In the space of a year, he'd gone from being the sort of man who'd never had a committed relationship before to being one who couldn't imagine a future without the woman cuddled into him. He'd known going into the relationship that it was different, that _Jess_ was different and he wanted more from her than just a warm body to curl up to at night but the fact that marriage was actually playing on his mind – and that he wasn't terrified by the thought – did sort of surprise him.

And it made him wonder whether Jess wanted the same thing, too.

She was younger than he was, though that wasn't really the issue. At the beginning of their relationship, he'd discovered just how inexperienced she was, both emotionally like him and physically, too, and, though they'd overcome much of that together, he still found himself wondering at times whether it was fair of him to expect her to be content with only one real romantic relationship in her life.

Not that she'd ever given him reason to think otherwise, he admitted, absent-mindedly tracing patters on the bare skin of her arm as Connor and Abby took to the dance floor in the centre of the room for their first dance as man and wife.

She was happy with him, content. Satisfied. He did his best to make sure of it, having made a promise to himself a long time ago that he'd do his best not to take her for granted. He knew she loved him as much as he loved her but whether or not _marriage_ was something she'd started to think about, too…

"They look happy, don't they?" Tilting her head back to look at him, the smile on Jess's face was undoubtedly loving, the glint in her eyes almost dreamy.

"They do." Without looking at them to confirm it, Becker leaned down to kiss her lightly. "In case they forget to do it later, thank you on their behalf for helping make this happen."

"I didn't do much." She protested with a short laugh as he'd known she would, shaking her head. "They've got themselves to thank for ending up here."

Remembering the journey their friends had taken to reach this point – the parts of it he'd known them for, anyway – Becker could only agree with her. It'd taken them a while, he reflected, but Abby and Connor had ended up where they'd wanted to be eventually.

As the DJ announced the newlyweds wished for other happy couples to join them on the dance floor, Becker noticed Matt get up and extend his hand to Emily, and Lester stand grudgingly when his wife, Eleanor, nudged him non-too-gently in the ribs. Smiling to himself, he disentangled himself from Jess only to get to his feet and hold out a hand to her, quirking an eyebrow when she stared up at him with a smile.

"May I have this dance, Miss Parker?" He asked formally, his brown eyes sparkling.

"As if you needed to ask, Captain Becker." With an affectionate smile, Jess easily slid her hand into his and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

He led her onto the floor, aware of but not really seeing the knowing smiles and glances of their teammates and other colleagues attending the wedding. He wasted no time in drawing her against him, marvelling silently as always at the way she fit so perfectly against him. If he were a sentimental man, he might've allowed himself to think they were made for each other but, being the hardy soldier that he was, Becker banished the thought instantly and swore never to repeat it aloud to anyone.

Except, maybe, Jess. One day.

Her hand felt right in his, the other resting lightly against his chest. His arm curled around her waist, drawing her close as they swayed in unison to the song being played, the rest of the room fading as though only the two of them existed.

The Best Man and the Maid of Honour garnered quite a few speculative glances and knowing looks as the wedding celebrations continued, with more than one person wondering aloud whether the next wedding they all gathered for would be theirs.

Holding Jess close, watching her smile and listening to her laugh, Becker couldn't help but hope that it would.

* * *

To be continued in 'Approval'. (And it's probably obvious now what the 'big milestone' in Jess & Becker's relationship this story is going to be about! ;))


	2. Approval

Prompt: Approval  
Rating: K+

* * *

The first person he mentioned it to was his mother. To his alarm but not his surprise, Margaret Becker burst into tears and threw her arms around him, weeping into his shoulder as he tried to decipher whether the sounds she made were good or bad.

His mother's reaction drew the attention of his little sister, who squealed so loudly after her mother told her what was going on that he was sure she'd pierced an eardrum. It was her response that caused his father to leave his office, demanding to know what all of the fuss was about with a decidedly not amused expression on his face.

"Hil's going to propose to Jess!" Rachel squealed, dancing away from her big brother to hug their father in celebration. "Isn't that amazing? She's really going to be family!"

"I said I was thinking about it," Becker corrected her, detangling himself from his mother's teary embrace. "Besides, even if I do ask, she still needs to say yes before you start celebrating."

"Of course she'll say yes." His mother dabbed her eyes with a tissue she'd pulled from her pocket. "She loves you. She'll be thrilled. Oh, Henry, isn't it wonderful?"

When Colonel Becker didn't immediately answer, the family fell silent. Becker watched his father, waiting. He wasn't holding his breath – he wasn't even glaring at the Colonel, either, the way his little sister was. He stood silently, folding his arms across his chest as he waited for his father's response.

"Henry." His mother heaved an exasperated sigh, her tears drying as she let her hands rest on her hips. "I don't know what your problem is this time, but..."

"Mum." Becker waited until Margaret was looking at him before giving her a small, reassuring smile. "It's okay. I didn't bring it up because I want anyone's approval. It's just an idea."

"It's a good one." It was his father who spoke, causing Becker to struggle to school his features into a neutral expression. "She's a good match for you, son. If it _was_ approval you wanted, you've got it from me." As his wife and children stood staring at him in stunned silence, Colonel Becker turned on his heel and strode back to his office.

He closed the door behind him and sat down at his chair, a small smile playing on his lips as he looked at the photographs on his desk.

"Well." Rachel was the first to recover, her shocked expression giving way to a brilliant smile. "I can't say I was expecting that."

Becker ran a hand through his hair, a grin causing the corners of his mouth to twitch as relieved affection swelled in his chest. "Me either."

Margaret Becker shook her head, a fond smile on her face as she looked first in the direction her husband had gone, and then at her son and daughter. "I don't know why you're both so surprised. Your father does have very good taste after all. Now," fixing her attention on her son, Margaret's smile widened. "Tell us all about this _idea_ you've had."

He rolled his eyes but let himself be pulled into the kitchen, well aware that neither his mother nor his sister would let him leave until he'd been interrogated thoroughly.

* * *

His teammates were the next people he broached the subject with. Abby and Connor had returned from their honeymoon: relaxed, tanned and as sickeningly in love as they had been at their wedding. Becker rolled his eyes and joined Matt in teasing Connor but couldn't stop himself from grinning when he caught the couple canoodling beside the truck after successfully handling a creature incursion – their first as a married couple, he overheard Connor gleefully announce to Abby.

"You can stop with the nauseating displays of affection any time you want," Matt called out, a smirk on his face despite his words. "You're acting like a love struck puppy, Connor."

"Don't listen to him, Connor. I think it's sweet." Emily was quick to defend the newlywed, an indulgent smile on her face.

"It was sweet the first four times," Matt complained. "Becker, back me up here."

Before he could, another voice joined the conversation and it was all Becker could do to struggle against the soppy grin that threatened to light up his own face at the sound of Jess's voice in his ear.

_"Leave them alone, Matt. They're adorable,"_ Jess defended her former flatmates.

The team leader shook his head and continued to grumble good naturedly. "You wouldn't be saying that if you could see it, Jess."

_"I don't need to see it to know it's sweet,"_ Jess answered smartly. _"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going into the budget meeting with Lester so if there's any problems, Sergeant Mills will be covering the ADD."_

The team grimaced, all knowing how long and tedious budget meetings could be.

"You have our sympathies," Connor told Jess sincerely.

_"Thanks, Connor. I'd prefer some chocolate, though."_

"Consider it done," Becker promised, ignoring Matt's eye roll and the knowing smiles of the others. "See you when we get back."

_"Looking forward to it."_

He waited until he was sure Jess was off the comms before taking his own earpiece out and disengaging his black box. At the questioning glances of his teammates, Becker shrugged and climbed into the driver's side of the truck. He kept silent as the rest of the team followed suit and started the engine.

"What's with the radio silence, Mate?" Matt gave him a concerned glance. "Something going on?"

Becker held his tongue for a moment longer, feeling awkward and untouchable and a bit embarrassed. Eventually, he sighed and spoke, keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead of him. "I'm thinking of asking Jess to marry me."

Silence followed the announcement but before he could start to feel too apprehensive, Connor let out a whoop and leaned forward from the backseat to clap Becker on the shoulder. "That's brilliant, Mate! Fantastic! When are you gonna do it? How?"

"He said he was thinking about it, Con. Not that he'd decided." Abby rolled her eyes but Becker caught a glimpse of the pleased smile playing on her lips in the rear-view mirror. "It is a brilliant idea, Becker. Really. What made you start thinking about it?"

"Your wedding, I'd guess," Matt answered for him, a smile on his face. "They were almost as nauseating as you two."

"It was lovely to see," Emily defended them with a soft sigh. "And I agree with Abby and Connor, Becker. It is a wonderful idea. Will you need assistance in planning your proposal?"

"I don't know." He answered quickly, before Connor and Abby could start suggesting ways he could ask Jess the question that would change both of their lives. "I'm still trying to decide whether to do it or not."

"Why the hesitation? You don't think she'll say no?" Matt gave him an incredulous look when Becker only shrugged. "Seriously?"

When the Captain remained silent, his teammates jumped in with enthusiastic reassurances.

"She's crazy about you, Becker, of course she'll say yes."

"You can't possibly thing she'll say no – she loves you!"

"It'll make her year – her decade, even! This is Jess we're talking about, yeah?"

"I cannot think of a single reason why you should doubt Jess's intentions towards you."

Becker rolled his eyes. "I don't think she'll say no," he spoke up when they all stared at him expectantly. "I just don't want to rush things. Things are good as they are."

"Rush things?" It was Abby's turn to roll her eyes. "Have you and Connor secretly taken lessons in how to go as slow as possible when it comes to romantically relationships?"

"Hey!" Connor protested indignantly. "Married you, didn't I?"

"Eventually," Abby conceded with an affectionate smile. "My point is, Jess and Becker don't need to wait as long as we did, and a bit of paper isn't really going to make that much of a difference to their relationship. It just makes things official."

They lapsed into silence again for a few moments, before Matt had to break it. The smirk on his face and glint in his eye should have been warning enough but still his words made Becker tighten his grip on the steering wheel.

"You know you'll have to ask permission before you ask her, yeah? You'll need her family's blessing."

"Davey will be fine," Becker replied after only a short hesitation. "Well, Andi will be. He'll go along with her if he wants to avoid an argument."

Having met Jess's brother and sister-in-law, Matt nodded his agreement. "Wasn't Davey I was talking about, though."

"It wasn't?"

"No." Matt's smirk grew smug. "You're going to have to talk to Lester."

As the rest of the team agreed whole-heartedly with more than a little amusement at his expense – their boss was no doubt the closest thing Jess had to a father-figure – Becker hit back a groan and focused on driving back to the ARC.

Maybe he'd rethink the idea after all...

* * *

_To be continued in 'Wishes'._


	3. Wishes

Prompt: Wishes  
Rating: T

* * *

While having their relationship out in the open had a lot of positives – such as being able to sit beside her on a night out with the team, being able to subtly warn other men when they decided to flirt with her in front of him and, for Jess mostly, not needing to hide her concern when he was out in the field facing a potentially dangerous incursion – there was also a downside.

Specifically, that they now spent a lot of their free time doing couple-y things but with other people around, too, and he'd kind of gotten used to having her all to himself – and vice versa.

It was nice, of course, to be sociable and strengthen the friendships that had become a little strained before the revelation of their romantic relationship. He enjoyed spending time outside of work relaxing with his teammates and he knew Jess did, too. Just as they both enjoyed spending time with her family – Davey, Andi and the kids – and with his. He enjoyed the occasional boy's night out while the girls stayed in, and playing rugby on a Sunday morning was a great way of getting a good work out but...

But...

They'd developed a routine when their relationship had been between themselves, one that usually just involved the two of them spending time together, enjoying one another's company and generally getting to know each other better. And although they knew each other better than they knew anyone else – probably better than they'd ever known anyone else – Becker sometimes found himself wishing for the early days of their relationship. The ones where it was just the two of them and no one else.

It was a bit silly, or at least that's what he told himself. It wasn't as if they never saw each other or got to spend any time together. They still worked together, still lived together, still spent every night sleeping in one another's arms... It was just that weekends alone together were few and far between and, recently, in the run up to Abby and Connor's wedding, they'd both been so busy helping their friends prepared for the big day that they'd spent very little quality time alone together.

He tried not to think anything of it, though, and told himself that as long as Jess was happy, so was he. That said, when she suggested they sneak out to lunch – just the two of them – one Friday at work, he couldn't help but be enthusiastic in his agreement.

They didn't go far, both knowing all too well that lunch could be interrupted by an anomaly alert, so settled for the deli around the corner – the place they'd gone to for their second albeit unplanned date.

"This is nice." Jess sighed contentedly after finishing her salad, smiling at him from her side of the table. "I can't remember the last time we had lunch, just the two of us."

"Probably before the wedding chaos descended." He tried to sound casual, as though he hadn't actually been keeping count, but from the amused smile that curled her lips, Becker wasn't sure he was successful.

"The same could be said about having had a weekend to ourselves, too." She sat forward in her seat and propped her elbow on the table, leaning her chin on her hand. "Which got me thinking. I know you're supposed to be playing rugby on Sunday but it's just a training session, isn't it?"

He nodded and pushed his empty plate to the side. "We don't have another match for a fortnight and even then, I don't have to play."

"You like playing," she reminded him with a smile. "And I like watching you, but that's not where I was going with this."

Unable to resist the lure of being able to touch her without the smirks or comments of their friends, Becker reached out and took her free hand in his. "Just where are you trying to go with this, Jess?"

"I'm trying to suggest we do something bad and lie to our families and friends and say we've got plans this weekend so we can't see any of them." Her words came out in a rush, a guilty flush stealing across her features. "I know it's not a nice thing to do but it's been ages since we had a lazy weekend in..."

"It's not a bad thing," he assured her quietly. "We're entitled to some time on our own."

"So you think it's a good idea?" She bit her lip and tilted her head slightly.

His grin was answer enough, slow and deliberate and causing another flush to stain her cheeks. "I think it's a brilliant idea. Possibly one of the best you've had."

Jess smiled at him, squeezing his hand with hers. "I hoped you'd say that."

Their friends and families accepted their excuses with small looks they did their best to keep from being too knowing. As Jess and Becker locked the door to their flat on Friday night, they exchanged a soft smile and immediately reached for one another.

Wrapping his arms around her middle, Becker drew her against him and kissed her slowly, savouring the fact that he could take his time knowing there'd be no distractions – anomaly alerts notwithstanding. Lifting her own arms to wind them about his neck, Jess sighed into the kiss before pulling back to look at him.

"I'm thinking a quick dinner, then an early night?" She suggested almost hopefully.

"Another good idea, except..." He lifted a hand from her waist to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Except...?" She leaned her cheek into his hand, mimicking his favoured response by arching an eyebrow. "You have another suggestion?"

Becker smirked. He let his hand drop from her face only to sweep her into his arms, turning to walk further into the flat. "Just how hungry are you?"

Laughing, Jess tightened her hold on him and twisted so she could kiss him softly. "I'm sure you can find a way to distract me."

* * *

Their weekend seemed to fly by, despite them having never left the flat. They'd ended up having a very late supper on Friday and an enjoyable lie-in on both Saturday and Sunday. Becker had been pleasantly surprised when Jess had told him they didn't even need to go out and buy groceries – she'd already placed an order online and the goods would be delivered on Sunday afternoon.

Late on Sunday, after attempting to watch television for a while and trying but failing to concentrate on a film that neither of them had been particularly interested in, they'd turned off the TV, put on some music and cuddled up on the sofa instead.

It was then that Becker managed to get her talking, lying on his back with Jess mostly on top of him, her head on his shoulder as she dozed lightly while he ran his fingers up and down her back.

"Feels weird to think Abby and Connor are actually married now," he commented when he felt her completely relax against him. "All the planning and preparation and watching you try to keep them both calm only for it to be all over with in one day."

"They've not changed much," Jess agreed after a short silence. "It was sweet of Abby to go along with what Connor wanted." She stifled a yawn and cuddled closer. "If she'd had her way, they would probably have gone to Gretna Green without telling anyone and eloped without any fuss."

Knowing it was probably true, Becker nodded although she wasn't watching him. "She seemed to enjoy it as much as he did on the day. Even with all of the fuss." When his girlfriend made a non-committal noise in response, he shifted so he could run his fingers through her hair. "Well, if all else fails, you've got a back up career in the shape of wedding planner extraordinaire. You were brilliant at it."

"I've done it before." She shrugged a shoulder and lifted her head to look at him. "I helped Andi plan her wedding. Davey was more than happy to take a backseat and let us get on with it."

"Sounds like you're quite experienced at it then." He moved his hand to touch her cheek. "You ever think about what your own wedding will be like?"

Jess was silent or a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she smiled and settled back against him so he – frustratingly – couldn't see her face. "Sometimes." She sighed softly. "I never wanted a big, crazy type thing. Andi did, and to a lesser extent, Connor, and that's fine for them but I don't think I'd like to have that much attention on me all at once. I'd probably do something embarrassing like trip over my own feet walking up the aisle."

A year ago, it might have surprised him. It didn't after dating her for so long and now knowing her as well as he did. He suspected she might feel a little differently if her parents were still alive but the Jess Parker he'd come to know and utterly adore was a very private person. Although she'd enjoyed being surrounded by friends and family at the birthday party he'd through her, she'd spent most of the night at a table with her nearest and dearest, content to let the rest of the guests get on with celebrating around her.

"So you'd go for something small, then. Just close family and friends?"

"For the actual wedding. There'd probably be a few more people at the reception. Distant relatives, not so close friends and colleagues." She didn't sound completely enamoured with the idea but not completely against it, either. "When I was little, I always used to dream I'd get married the same place my parents did. They had an outdoor wedding, in the garden of our old house. My grandparents had bought it for them as an engagement gift and from the photos, it looked amazing. So beautiful." She sighed again, more than a little wistfully. "It'll never happen, of course. The house was sold after they died. I wanted to keep it but when Davey... Well, keeping the house wasn't so much of a priority for a while."

He went back to stroking her back soothingly, understanding. Though she'd never mentioned it to him herself, her brother had admitted once that he'd gone a little off the rails after their parents had died. He'd started drinking quite heavily and it was only due to the intervention of his little sister that he thought he'd made it through.

"What about you?" She didn't look up at him again but started drawing random patterns on his chest with her fingertips. "Have you ever thought about it?"

"Not really." It wasn't a lie. He hadn't, until recently. And even then, he'd never really thought about the details. Only one, really, and that concerned the identity of his bride. "Not in any great detail."

He was now, though. He made a mental note to find out more about her parent's old house, knowing he'd do anything to make her childhood dream a reality.

* * *

_To be continued in 'Blessings'._


	4. Blessing

Prompt: Blessing  
Rating: K+/T

* * *

He'd made up his mind. There would be no changing it, no backing out, no making excuses:

He, Hilary James Becker, was going to ask Jessica Catherine Parker to marry him.

If he was honest with himself, he'd made the decision a long time ago. Well, a few weeks ago, at Abby and Connor's wedding, when he'd looked at the happy couple, then at the woman beside him and realised that yeah, that was what he wanted, too.

Becker had the approval of his family and his friends, all of whom kept asking in their very unsubtle ways how he was going to propose and when. They didn't seem to realise that he still had two – well, three – quite considerable hurdles to get over first.

One: he needed to find a ring.

Two: he needed to get her family's blessing.

Three: he needed to let their boss in on the secret, as James Lester would _not_ be impressed if he realised he was the last person to know. Other than Jess, of course.

There'd been plenty of offers of assistance when he'd mentioned needing to find a ring. Abby and Emily had given him advice on what they thought Jess would like – something pretty and delicate, according to his female teammates. Connor and Matt had given him some advice, too – something shiny (Matt) and bling-y (Connor). His mother had simply patted his hand and assured him Jess would love anything he chose, while his darling little sister had immediately put him off asking her for help when she'd mentioned the only way to go was Tiffanys.

He had a vague idea of the kind of ring he wanted to get, anyway, but before he could go shopping and part with his hard earned cash, he needed to somehow get her ring size. There was only one person he could think of who would be able to help him in his mission – and that was one of the people he still needed to tell.

Despite declining their help where shopping was concerned, Becker enlisted Abby and Emily's help when it came to keeping Jess distracted and they didn't disappoint. Within minutes of him asking, they'd arranged a girl's night out for the female members of staff at the ARC – all of whom, like Jess, were oblivious to the real reasons behind it. His teammates had promised they'd mention his plan to no one, knowing how gossip could spread like wildfire at the ARC, especially if they were having a slow or even reasonably quiet day.

He waited patiently for her to get ready, kissed her goodbye after admiring the way she looked in the short and slinky blue dress she'd chosen to wear and gave her a ten minute head start before grabbing his keys and leaving the flat. Davey and Andi were expecting him and he suspected they might have some idea as to why he'd asked to see them without Jess being present, though neither had said as much when he'd talked to Davey on the phone.

The Parker's house was as warm and welcoming as ever, lights shining through the downstairs windows while upstairs the house was in darkness. Glancing at his watch, he knew he'd probably missed his opportunity to say goodnight to the children, Lizzie and Tom, and had to shake his head in amusement when he realised he was disappointed.

The amusement faded when he took the car keys from the ignition and realised he had no excuse to put it off any longer. He wiped his palms on his trousers and got out of the truck when the front door to the house opened.

Andrea 'Andi' Parker stood in the doorway, an eyebrow arched as he slowly approached. "You look like you're heading to your own execution, Hil," she teased him lightly. "Surely you know us well enough not to be so terrified? Unless you've got reason to be, of course."

"Not as far as I'm aware." Becker tried to grin at her but didn't think it worked when the formidable redhead merely stared at him through narrowed eyes.

"You're not here to tell us you've done something stupid and you're going to end up breaking Jess's heart, are you?" Andi asked bluntly, her green eyes flashing a warning. "Because I warn you, Hil, as much as I like you, if you're here to get us on side, that's never going to happen."

He held his hands up in mock surrender and shook his head. "I'm not going to break her heart and I haven't done anything stupid. Yet," he added with a small shrug. "That's what I'm trying to avoid."

Andi looked at him for a few moments more before stepping aside, letting him enter the house. "This better be good, Hilary."

Becker rolled his eyes as he stepped inside. "I hope it is, Andrea."

* * *

The married couple sitting opposite him stared at him in silence. The corners of Andi's mouth twitch as though she were suppressing a smile and her eyes were suspiciously bright but she still said nothing. Beside her, Jess's big brother sat statue-still, his face expressionless.

"You're going to propose to my sister," Davey said eventually.

"Yes." Becker fought the urge to swallow; he'd stared down scarier people – not to mention creatures – than David Parker. "Unless you can give me a really good reason not to."

"And you want the address of our old house so you can try and convince the owners to let you hold the wedding there?"

"It's what she wants." Becker ran a hand through his hair; he knew it was a long-shot and that the people who owned the house now were more likely to laugh in his face than agree to his request but... "If you can give me the address, I can at least ask. The worst they can do is say no."

Davey arched an eyebrow. "You're counting on Jess saying yes, then?"

"I'm hoping she will," Becker replied evenly.

Having had enough of trying to contain her feelings, Andi rolled her eyes and hit her husband non-too-gently in the ribs. She practically jumped off the sofa she was sitting on and lunged towards Becker, wrapping her arms around him. "Of course she will!" Andi declared. "Davey's just being cruel. And of course we'll help you," she promised, settling herself on the arm of the chair Becker was sitting on. "You wanted me to try and find out her ring size?"

"If you can just describe a ring you've seen her wear, I can take it with me when I go looking." Becker gave her a grateful look. "Though if she's never worn one on the right finger..."

"There's a silver and garnet ring that you should look for in her jewellery box," Andi advised immediately, brow crinkled in thought. "It was her grandmother's, and the only finger it fits on right is her ring finger. She wore it sometimes if we were going out so she didn't get hit on."

Having a vague idea of which ring she'd described, Becker nodded to show he understood. "I think I know the right one."

"If you're not sure, you could text me a picture and I'll let you know," Andi suggested helpfully. "Have you thought about what kind of ring you're going to get her?"

"I've got a picture in my head but whether it actually exists or not is another story," he admitted.

"Yellow gold or white? Diamond? Sapphire?" She fired questions at him, her eyes alight with interest. "What does the one in your head look like?"

"Ah..."

It was Davey who came to his rescue this time, shaking his head at his wife. "Andi, Sweetheart, give the man a break. He can send you a picture of it when he finds it. Or you could always wait till it's on my sister's finger," Davey added, shrugging when Becker looked at him. "It's a given she's going to say yes."

"Does that mean you don't mind me asking?" Becker asked carefully.

"It's not like you need my permission," Davey replied just as carefully, mindful of the woman sitting next to Becker with an expression on her face that could only mean he had to tread carefully. "It's Jess's life, her decision. She'd never forgive me if I stood in the way."

"That might be true but I'd like to know what you think of it." Holding the other man's gaze, Becker resisted the temptation to run his hand through his hair again. "Your opinion means a lot to Jess, and to me."

When Davey said nothing for a few moments, Andi heaved a dramatic sigh. "For god's sake, Davey, he's not asking for your permission, he's asking for your blessing. You know he'll make her happy so stop being ridiculous."

"You will make her happy?" It was phrased as a question rather than a statement.

"I'll do my best," Becker promised, taking it seriously.

"And you'll try not to leave her again?" Davey's expression was solemn, his gaze fixed on Becker. "I know you can't tell me exactly what you do for a living but I saw my sister fall apart when you were missing. That's not something I want to see again."

"It's not something I want to happen again." Remembering the conversation he'd had with Jess following his return and her subsequent release from hospital after battling a bout of pneumonia, Becker stifled a sigh. "It's not something I can promise won't happen but I swear I'll do whatever I can to stay with her." 'And stay alive,' he added mentally.

Davey nodded slowly but still didn't look convinced. "It got me thinking, you know, what if you had kids and you disappeared?"

"We've not discussed it. Having children," Becker clarified. It was something they would need to talk about, eventually, though. He knew what his own feelings were on the subject and suspected he had a good idea of what Jess would want for the future, too. "But, if and when that becomes an issue, we'll talk about it. As I told your wife at Christmas, this isn't something either of us have entered into lightly nor will any other decisions we make about our future."

The other man opened his mouth to ask another question but closed it with a sigh. He shook his head and got to his feet, holding out a hand to Becker. "You promise me you'll take care of her?"

Getting to his own feet, Becker took the hand he was offered. "I promise."

"Then you have my blessing." As Andi clapped her hands, Davey clapped Becker on the shoulder with his spare hand. "Guess you're really part of the family now."

"Not quite." Becker grinned, able to relax for the first time since stepping over the threshold of the house. "She still needs to say yes."

* * *

And there was still one more person he needed to tell.

The planned spot checks on the security system gave him a perfect excuse to go to the ARC early. Unfortunately, Jess's knowledge of the system meant he couldn't make an excuse for her to stay at home while he did so. Fortunately, his teammates were aware of the real reason Becker wanted to get in early and catch Lester first thing – hopefully while their boss was in a good mood – and stepped into help without being asked.

Or at least Matt did.

As much as the team leader had wanted to hang around the Ops room and watch through the glass wall as Becker broached the subject with Lester, he knew his Second-in-Command couldn't or wouldn't if there was a chance Jess might walk in on them or at the very least see enough to get suspicious. So he distracted Jess, ordering an all-too-willing Connor to take her place at the ADD while he whisked the Field Co-ordinator away to do an inventory of supplies that was necessary but was nowhere near as time sensitive as he led her to believe.

So it was a nervous Becker that knocked on the door of Lester's office bright and early and squared his shoulders when his boss called out for him to enter.

"Ah, Captain." Lester looked up from the computer on his desk. "Is everything going well with the security checks? No unpleasant surprises?"

"None, Sir." Becker cursed himself internally when Lester's eyebrow arched; he usually only called Lester 'Sir' when there was something he wasn't looking forward to saying in his boss's presence, otherwise he stuck with Lester like the rest of the team. "Security systems are running at optimum proficiency. I've identified a few areas I think would benefit from an upgrade but it'll all be in my report."

"Excellent. I look forward to reading it." There was a touch of sarcasm in the older man's voice, and an expectant expression on his face. "Was there something else, Becker?" Lester asked when his Head of Security made no attempt at leaving the office. "I haven't got all day."

Becker clasped his hands behind his back, standing almost at attention, and took a deep breath to steal himself. "I thought you should know, Sir, that I plan on asking Jess to marry me." He kept his gaze fixed on a spot on the wall behind Lester's head.

There was a short pause.

"I see," Lester said eventually. "I presume Miss Parker doesn't know?"

"Not yet." Becker's gaze dropped momentarily to the floor. "There's something else I have to take care of before I ask her."

"I see," Lester repeated. He picked up a pen, tapped it against a report on his desk. "I don't know why you're still standing there. What is it exactly you're waiting for me to say?"

Since he didn't exactly know, Becker found he could only shrug. "I... You're important to Jess," he said eventually, glancing at his boss just in time to catch the pleased surprise on Lester's face before it disappeared behind his usual mask of impartiality. "I don't know if you're aware of it but she's come to think of you as a sort of father-figure. It'll be important to her to know you approve. It's important to me, too," he added quietly, gaze shifting once again.

Lester stared at his Head of Security appraisingly, eyes narrowed as he studied the man standing in front of his desk. He was a good man, Lester knew, one of the best. And, just as Jess Parker had somehow wrangled her way into his affections, so, too, had the Captain in front of him.

"Well, I certainly have no objections." His lips twitched with a grin he refused to let break through when Becker looked up at him in obvious astonishment. "Why would I?" He continued wryly. "You've both been exemplary in keeping your personal relationship outside of work. It's an example I only wish certain others would follow. Professionally speaking, there is no reason why I wouldn't approve."

"And personally?" Becker held his gaze even though Lester could tell he wanted to look away.

"Personally," Lester began, purposely pausing to make the soldier sweat, "I approve. You're a good man, Becker, I've never doubted that. I think you're the only one who still does."

Becker swallowed, whether it was from relief or a sudden swell of emotion, he wasn't sure himself. "Thank you, Sir." He exhaled slowly and his stance visibly relaxed.

"Now, I assume the others are aware of this latest development?" Lester asked matter-of-factly. "I trust there's no need to keep anything secret now they're aware of the true nature of your relationship?"

"They know I'm going to ask her. They don't know anything else. No one does," Becker admitted with a shrug. "I haven't really planned how I'm going to do it yet. I've been focusing on what happens after, to be honest."

Both of Lester's eyebrows shot up. "I don't think I want to know."

"What? Oh, no. Not _that_." The tips of his ears burned as he realised what Lester was thinking – of what might – _would probably _– happen in the immediate aftermath of his proposal, assuming Jess actually agreed. "The wedding. If she says yes. She's always wanted to get married in the garden of her parent's old house. Her brother's given me the address and I'm going to try and talk to the owners, see if they'll agree to it, before I ask her."

"An admirable plan," Lester declared. "If you need any assistance, I'd be only too happy to help. I'm told I can be quite persuasive when I need to be."

Becker nodded, his eyes amused. "In this job, you have to be."

"Exactly." Lester looked pleased for a moment, and then his attention was diverted. "I take it that's all, Captain? You don't want Miss Parker asking any difficult questions as to why it's taken you so long to tell me that everything's running so smoothly."

Following his boss's gaze, Becker couldn't fight the small smile that automatically came to his face at the sight of his girlfriend watching them curiously. His smile grew a little when she realised she'd been caught and blushed, smiling sheepishly before turning her attention back to the ADD. "Thank you, Lester," he said before he left the office.

Lester watched the Captain make his way briefly to the ADD. Becker gave Matt and Connor a subtle nod, earning a grin from the team leader and a thumbs up from the scientist, before taking up position beside Jess. He said something that made the Field Co-ordinator laugh before kissing her cheek quickly and turning to leave Operations, ready to get on with the rest of his day and no doubt plan how he was going to ask the most important question he ever would.

* * *

_*squees at Lester* He's adorable!  
I'm a little bit behind on everything at the moment so please know your reviews are very much appreciated and are helping me get through a very hectic time! x_


	5. House

Prompt: House  
Rating: K+

* * *

Whether it was luck or fate, Becker wasn't sure.

He didn't know if he believed in the latter, and hadn't considered himself to have much of the former so when he drove to the address Davey had given him and found himself looking at a house he'd only seen before in photographs with a 'For Sale' sign outside of it, he didn't quite know what to think.

It was, without a doubt, Jess and Davey's childhood home. He'd looked through the photo albums Jess kept neatly organised on her bookshelf to get a good picture of the place in mind so he could be sure that he'd found the right house and wasn't knocking on a stranger's door for no reason and the house in front of him was definitely the right place.

The front garden needed some work, and the black paint on the door and window frames could use a fresh coat but it otherwise looked exactly the same as in the photograph he'd found of a beaming Jess and Davey standing outside in the snow.

Becker reached for his mobile phone and dialled the number of the Estate Agents on the for sale sign. He didn't have to wait very long for it to be answered by a woman who sounded quite bored but who managed to perk up the moment he mentioned which property it was he was interested in.

"If you're interested in having a look around, I can send someone over," she offered immediately. "It's just come on the market this morning so you can have the first visit if you like."

He hesitated for only a minute.

Buying a house hadn't been part of his proposal plans but something in him, a deep grained instinct of sorts, told him not to be so quick to dismiss the idea. It was something they'd discussed before though not in any great detail. When he'd sold his flat and officially moved into hers, the money from the sale had gone straight into a bank account earmarked for his and Jess's future.

As soon as he'd hung up, he made another call. "Davey? Yeah, I found it okay. Listen, I was just wondering, is there any chance you could get over here…?"

* * *

It was an emotional blast from the past for the other man, even if he did his best to hide it. When Becker had explained that he'd not only found the house but that it was for sale, Davey had made his excuses and left work early to meet Becker there, calling his wife on the way so she could take a trip down memory lane, too.

"It feels the same," Davey murmured, his grip on Andi's hand tightening as they stood in the entrance way of the house. "It's been redecorated, obviously, but it still has the same feel."

"It does," Andi agreed, her green eyes misty. "Oh, Davey. Jess..."

Understanding his wife's guilt, both aware that keeping the Parker family home had been a dream they'd been unable to help keep alive for the woman who meant so much to them, Davey glanced at Becker, who stood silently beside them. "You'd really do this for her? Live here?"

Becker met his gaze and shrugged, only a little uncomfortable with the intensity of the stare being levelled at him. "If it's what she wants, yes."

"What about what you want?" Andi asked quietly, almost as if she was afraid of the answer. "You have to be happy, Hil. It'll be your home, too."

"My home is wherever Jess is." He didn't say it to win points with his future in-laws; he said it because it was true.

The flat he'd lived in before moving in with Jess had never felt like a home, not really. It had been somewhere to sleep and eat when he wasn't at work, but never a safe haven or sanctuary where he could find an escape away from the rest of the world. He hadn't found that until he'd moved in with Jess and had always thought it was the company he kept rather than the physical building around them that made it truly a home.

"Do you think she'd want to live here?" He asked when the couple he was with were silent for a little too long. "It's one thing to want to get married here, another to live here."

"She never wanted to leave," Davey said softly. "It if hadn't been for me..." Andi squeezed his hand supportively. "I'm not saying you should buy the place without asking her first but I don't think she'd hesitate if you asked her and she thought you meant it."

"Why don't you have a look around without us?" Andi suggested kindly. "See if you can picture yourself living here, too."

While the couple moved off to the back of the house towards the kitchen where they could reminiscence in private, Becker headed for the stairs to start from the top and work his way down.

* * *

The Edwardian property was split over three floors. At the top of the house, on the second floor, there were two generously sized bedrooms and a bathroom they shared. The biggest room had a lovely view of the large back garden with its old stone walls.

Becker stood for a moment and contemplated the place where, if she said yes, he and Jess would get married, trying to picture the ordinary garden transformed into a wedding venue fit for his bride.

It was a little neglected in places and would need some work before it was suitable but he could see why Jess's parents had chosen to get married there and why Jess had fallen in love with the idea herself. There was a small stream running along one edge of the garden and an old wooden gazebo with a swing bench inside it that looked like it might fall apart at any moment at the very end of it, almost completely concealed by overgrown trees and bushes. Narrowing his eyes, Becker found himself imagining the gazebo once it'd been repaired and decked out in the fairy lights Jess was so fond of, along with more of the sparkly lights in the trees and greenery around it.

At night, it would look stunning, and it was as he stood there imagining it that Becker realised he'd found not only the place to marry Jess, but the place to ask her, too.

Tearing himself away from visions of what might be, he explored the rest of the house, easily imagining the furniture he and Jess had amassed together in the empty rooms. On the first floor, there were a further three bedrooms and a bathroom. Becker didn't think they'd ever have need of the full five bedrooms, though given how often Jess's niece and nephew liked to stay with them and that whenever it was Jess's turn to host a girl's night in, it usually ended up with everyone staying the night, maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing to have the extra space.

Besides, as he stood in the doorway of a bedroom that had obviously been decorated with a little girl in mind, he couldn't quite stop himself from imagining the beaming face of a girl with Jess's smile and his eyes playing happily in the empty space.

One room could be an at home office, he decided as he made his way down to the ground floor. Not that either of them really did much work from home but it'd be nice to have somewhere Jess's laptop and computer could be tucked away, along with the myriad of books they'd both collected over the years, half of which were currently living in boxes under the bed in the spare room due to a lack of space to display them in their flat.

Downstairs, there were two reception rooms – one generously sized living room he could easily envision spending most of his evenings with Jess, cuddled up on the sofa watching TV, and one that could be used as a more formal dining room for entertaining when their friends and families came over. The kitchen was large, too, big enough for a small dining table for more casual suppers and attached to that was a conservatory that might be nice to sit in on a warm summer's evening with a glass of a wine and book in hand, Jess curled up against him, or maybe on a stormy night with the sound of the rain on the roof…

With those thoughts in mind, he joined Andi and Davey outside, where they were inspecting the ramshackle state of the gazebo. They turned to face him when they heard him approach, the questioning looks on their faces fading at whatever emotion was being revealed on his.

"You're going to do it, aren't you?" Andi asked hopefully, her lips twitching with a smile.

"If it's what Jess wants," Becker agreed, nodding slightly. He put his hands in his pockets when Andi clapped hers excitedly before throwing her arms around her husband. "I've had another idea, though. One I'll need your help with, if the estate agents agree."

Both Andi and Davey looked at him, the expressions on their faces suggesting that all he had to do was ask.

* * *

_And this is where I admit that the whole reason I started writing the Milestones series was so I could get to this point, because there's a scene that'll be featured in an upcoming chapter that refused to go away and well, for that scene to happen, this needed to happen first. (And it meant I could research houses in London that would be suitable, which is always fun! As was looking for rings and dresses and other such things - and yes, I've found Jess's ring and her wedding dress and can't wait to share them :))_


	6. Ring

Prompt: Ring  
Rating: K+

* * *

Everything was going to plan, and that was beginning to make Becker nervous.

He'd managed to make an arrangement with the estate agents to provisionally put in an offer in on the house – an offer that had been accepted by the current owners, who'd been thrilled when they'd been told the whole story. They'd contacted him personally and agreed not to accept any other offers until after he'd let them know what he and Jess decided, admitting that they were rather fond of the idea that the place that had been their home would end up with someone who had loved it as much as they had and would do again.

With the help of Davey, Andi, his teammates and his family, they'd managed to get the garden into shape and repair the gazebo to its former glory, too. He'd felt uncomfortable lying to Jess about where he really was whenever he was at the house but told himself she wouldn't mind when she found out what he'd been up to.

At least he hoped not.

The closer it got to the day of the proposal – the anniversary of their first date, anomalies and end of the world disasters permitting – the more nervous he found himself getting.

It wasn't because he was getting cold feet or wasn't sure it was what he wanted; he was more sure than ever that he was doing the right thing by himself. He just kept having little doubts that maybe it was moving too fast – they'd only been dating for a year, after all, though it was the longest either he or Jess had been involved with anyone.

He tried to comfort himself with the knowledge that even if they did get engaged, it didn't mean they'd need to get married straight away if Jess didn't want to. If they decided to buy the house, there'd be no rush to get married just so they could exchange their vows in Jess's dream location. If the house was theirs, they could take their time and wait a while.

If she wanted.

It all came down to what Jess wanted, which made it difficult when she was the only person who was entirely unaware of what plans were being made for her future.

Becker was happy to go along with whatever would make her happy – the where and when didn't really matter to him, as long as the end result was the one he wanted i.e. that he and Jess were together, happy and looking forward to the rest of their lives together. He just worried sometimes that he was taking too much for granted, assuming too much about what she would and wouldn't want based on one conversation and the input of those who knew her.

Telling himself that the only thing he could do was to ask the question and let Jess decide where they went from there, he set about putting his plan to propose into action. The location was sorted, the date provisionally planned… There was just one vital thing missing, other than the answer to the question of course.

The all-important engagement ring.

Everyone, it seemed, had an opinion on the kind of thing Jess would like. Becker was following his mother's advice – and, surprisingly, Lester's – by pretty much ignoring the very many suggestions he'd been given from his well-meaning friends.

He waited until the weekend Lizzie and Tom would be staying with them, and then told Jess his father had called and asked for some help putting together a new shelving unit at his parent's house. It was another excuse, of course, a little white lie he didn't feel entirely comfortable with but one his parents and sister were all aware of in case they happened to speak to Jess without him being present.

Instead of going to his parent's house, he reluctantly left Jess and the children to go to the park on their own, promising he'd do his best to finish up so he could join them for their picnic lunch, and headed into the city centre.

* * *

The first jewellers he tried was no good. They had a good assortment of rings but none of them jumped out at him as being suitable for Jess. They were all too flashy, too gaudy, too big or too plain.

The second and third shops he went into had rings that were possibilities – one was a white gold diamond solitaire with a price tag that was reasonable but didn't make his eyes sting too much, one was a yellow gold sapphire and diamond ring that would go perfectly with the necklace and earrings he'd given her for Christmas.

It was in the fifth shop that he found it, though, the ring that seemed to fit perfectly with the image in his mind of what he wanted for his fiancée.

The ring itself had a band of both white and yellow gold, arranged in an ornate but delicate way that made him wonder just how it had been done. It was slender in width, though, which was one of the things he'd been looking for. Jess liked her necklaces and earrings chunky but all of the rings he'd found in her jewellery box, including the silver and garnet ring he'd brought along for sizing purposes, had slim, delicate bands.

There were three small diamonds - the two either side smaller than the one in the middle, embedded into the metal of the band. Becker thought it was both attractive and more practical that way – at least then the stones wouldn't catch on clothes or skin and the chances of one of the stones working loose and becoming lost, he was told, was less.

He stared at the ring for a while, turning it over in his fingers, admiring the way it caught the light, trying to picture what Jess's reaction would be when she saw it. He smirked to himself, imagining the stunned expression on her face giving way to a teary-eyed smile followed by an admonishment that he'd spent too much – though the price tag attached to the ring was less than he'd been expecting to pay and, well, what were savings for if not for buying something you knew the person it was for was going to love?

Taking a deep breath, he looked up to see the shop owner watching him. The old man had been both helpful and patient with him and had a knowing smile on his face that seemed to suggest he knew exactly what Becker was going to say before he said it.

"This is the one," Becker confirmed, reluctantly handing the ring back to the owner. "I've got one she sometimes wears with me. Would you be able to get the size from that?"

"Certainly." Harry Proud grinned at him and took both rings from him. He glanced up at Becker as he used a tool from under the counter to measure the silver ring he'd been giving, the corners of his mouth twitching at the expression on the younger man's face. "I'd say she's a lucky girl but it looks like you're smitten, lad."

The tips of his ears grew hot but Becker nodded regardless, unable to help himself. "I'd say I'm the lucky one," he admitted with a sheepish grin. "How soon will it be ready to collect?"

"Shouldn't take too long." Harry looked at the ring that had been chosen. "These ones are all made by hand, you see, in the back room. Is there a specific date you need it by?"

"If possible, I need it by the 19th August." Becker visibly winced, knowing it wasn't giving them much time. "It's our anniversary," he felt the need to explain. "If that's going to be a problem, though…"

"It shouldn't be. I can put a rush on it." He reached under the counter and brought out a well-used, leather-bound diary, flicking through the pages until he found the date in question. "Looks like we'll be able to do it. You can pick it up the day before if you like."

Becker exhaled the breath he'd been holding, relief making him momentarily light-headed. "That would be perfect, thank you."

"Not a problem." Harry took a few details, scribbling them down in the diary alongside a description of the ring and Jess's ring size.

Less than ten minutes later, Becker left the shop having paid the deposit and stored his receipt safely in his wallet. Feeling as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, he made his way to the park where Jess and her niece and nephew would be waiting, determined to put all thoughts of proposing out of his mind until the day of reckoning arrived.

* * *

If anyone's interested in what Jess's ring would look like, it's pretty similar to this, only with diamonds instead of tsavorite: Go to etsy (dotcom) and put this after the com (/listing/92999653/custom-made-010-ct-round-diamon d-swirly)


	7. Anniversary

Prompt: Anniversary  
Rating: T

* * *

By prior arrangement, and because the wife's owner had a soft spot for him after he requested a takeout meal for Valentine's Day when the restaurant didn't usual cater for such requests, Becker was able to secure the same table he and Jess had sat at for their first date.

He stood in the living room of the flat they shared, trying not to fidget with the sleeves of his suit jacket as he waited for Jess to make her appearance. He didn't want her to know he was nervous or else she'd begin to suspect there was more to their night out than merely celebrating their anniversary.

The ring box in his pocket felt unnaturally heavy, though, a constant reminder of the very important question he had to ask later – and the expectations of the dozen or so people who knew he was going to do it.

Becker slid his hand into his pocket, fingertips just brushing the velvet covering the box when he heard her footsteps and pulled his hand away as though he'd been burnt. Fixing a smile on his face to cover it, he turned towards her… and swallowed hard.

The deep burgundy dress she wore took his breath away. The floor length material looked soft to the touch, enticing him to take a half step closer to find out whether it was. It glided over her, draped at the front and at the back. As she walked towards him to cover the gap between them, her movements graceful in spite of the high satin-covered shoes she wore in a colour to match and the smile on her face sweet but still somehow shy despite all they'd been through, Becker knew he was doing the right thing.

No other woman could create such a response just by appearing in the same room as him. No other woman could stir his emotions and make him want to feel things he'd once thought he never would the way the beautiful woman in front of him did.

"You're acting like it's the first time you've seen me all dolled up," Jess teased, coming to a stop in front of him. A pretty pink blush he knew wasn't make-up coloured her cheeks when he only kept staring at her. "Hilary, stop it."

He chuckled at her use of his first name and gave in to the impulse to kiss her, purposely keeping it light as his arms wound around her waist and drew her close. "All I'm doing is admiring the view, Jessica. You can't blame a bloke for that."

"I can when it's a view said bloke had seen at least a hundred times before." She rolled her eyes but smiled at him anyway. "We'll be late if we don't leave soon."

"They'll hold the table." Of that, he was certain. Still, he let her go but kept hold of her hand, leading her towards the door. "And for the record, I haven't seen you like this a hundred times. We need to go out more often. I keep forgetting how stunning you look in formal wear."

She laughed and shook her head. "We don't have to go out to dress up, Becker," she teased with a suggestive glint in her eye. "I'm quite happy to model any of the dresses in my wardrobe for you any time you want."

"Could've told me that sooner, Jess," Becker returned, matching her smile with a grin of his own. "And I'll be sure to remember it next time."

Hand in hand, the couple left their home to begin celebrating their anniversary in style.

* * *

The best made plans of mice and men.

Becker's grip on the steering wheel tightened as he scowled at the road in front of him. They'd made it through their main course, which was something, but the call had come through just before they could order dessert and Jess had insisted they leave.

Matt had tried talking her out of it over the speaker phone in the truck, the apology in his voice clear for Becker to hear, but Jess was adamant that they'd be at the anomaly site soon. Since she'd ended the conversation, Becker hadn't said a word. He could see her darting glances at him out of the corner of his eye but was too disappointed to bring himself to speak.

"I'm sorry," Jess said quietly as they approached the coordinates of the anomaly site. Becker glanced at her, eyebrow arched in question. "I know you don't like me being here. You could've just left me at the restaurant and I'd have gotten a taxi to the ARC." As he turned his attention back to the road, she continued, wringing her hands in her lap. "I won't get in the way, I promise. I'll stay in the car and won't interfere."

Realising that she thought he wasn't speaking because he was angry at her, Becker shook his head and pulled the truck to a stop alongside the other ARC trucks. Instead of getting out straight away, he turned to face her, uncaring of who was watching.

"I'm not angry at you, Jess." He reached out a hand to touch her cheek when she stared at him, unconvinced. "Really. Okay, so I'm a little wary of having you anywhere near an anomaly but you can't blame me for that." Not when they knew what kind of creatures could come through it and tear their hopeful future to shreds. "I'm disappointed we were interrupted but I'm not angry at you."

She leaned into his hand, her smile timid. "There's always next year."

"Mmhmm." Since he didn't plan to propose to her on their next anniversary, Becker couldn't really agree. Still, he dropped his hand but leaned in to steal a quick kiss. "You should come with me, or at least stay with one of the others."

He didn't want to leave her alone and unprotected just in case there was an incursion and all hell broke loose before he could get to her.

Her smile finally reached her eyes and he moved away from her, getting out of his side of the truck and walking around to hers as she opened the door. He helped her down, mindful that the heels she was wearing weren't the most practical shoes for running in should the situation call for it and walked with her towards the small group assembled between the ARC vehicles.

A low whistle greeted them and Becker rolled his eyes at Connor.

"You two scrub up well," the scientist greeted them, a grin on his face.

"Sorry about this, Mate," Matt apologised, running a hand through his already mused hair. "You didn't need to come out here."

"It's our job," Becker replied with a casual shrug. He moved a little closer to Jess and narrowed his eyes when he noticed two of his men giving her appreciative glances that lingered far too long in his opinion. "So what's going on?"

His hopes for a quick exit were dashed as Matt explained the situation. An anomaly had opened and was now locked but they'd found possible creature tracks around the site and couldn't leave until they were identified. As they were in the middle of nowhere, there was no CCTV feeds to hack into, meaning it would be a standard search by foot and hope they got lucky.

"We can manage here," Matt finished by saying, giving Becker a meaningful look that Jess, thankfully, missed as Abby distracted her by complimenting her dress. "If you want to get back to your evening."

He did, more than anything, but his sense of responsibility wouldn't let his team or his men face a potentially dangerous situation without him. Glancing at Jess, Becker stifled a sigh. "Someone stays here with her at all times," he said in a quiet but firm voice to the team leader. "Inside the car."

"Agreed." Matt didn't like their Field Co-ordinator being in danger any more than he did so didn't hesitate.

"I will stay," Emily volunteered, giving Jess a warm smile when the Field Co-ordinator looked ready to protest on account of causing a fuss.

"I'd be okay by myself," Jess spoke up, sounding a little wary as she glanced at Becker. "Really, I'll be fine. I don't want to be a distraction and you could use all the help you can get tracking the creatures."

"We also need someone to stay here in case they try to go back through the anomaly," Abby pointed out before Becker could think of a reason. "I'll stay, too, and we'll be in radio contact the whole time."

Whether it was for his benefit or Jess's, Becker wasn't sure but he appreciated the gesture anyway and accepted the two spare comm links he was given, passing one to Jess before fixing his in place. "We'll be back soon," he promised, hoping it was one he could keep.

"Don't worry." Jess smiled at him reassuringly despite the worry he could see lingering in her own eyes. "I'll be waiting."

He smiled at that, knowing it was true. The smile slipped a little as he turned away from her and started issuing instructions to his men. He accepted both the EMD Matt handed to him and the commiserating look that accompanied it and squared his shoulders in preparation of the night ahead.

* * *

It took almost two hours to track down the small Proailurus family that had come through the anomaly and it only took that long because the cat-like creatures tracks had come to a sudden stop next to some trees and it'd taken Connor doing a google search out of frustration to realise that searching the ground and undergrowth for them was pointless. The animals, a mother and her young, were eventually found up a tree, no doubt confused at their sudden change in environment.

Another thirty minutes later and the family unit were sent back through the anomaly and Becker was able to go in search of his girlfriend. He found her as expected with Abby and Emily, though hadn't counted on her being curled up in the passenger side of his car, his spare jacket wrapped around her like a blanket as she slept fitfully in her seat.

"I think the wine you had at dinner made her sleepy," Abby told him quietly, a fond smile on her face as she gazed through the window at the Field Co-ordinator. Her smile turned apologetic as her gaze shifted to Becker. "I'm sorry your night didn't go as planned, Becker. There's no reason you can't rearrange it all for another night. I know it won't be on your anniversary but it doesn't really need to be, does it?"

"No." Becker stifled a sigh and shook his head. "It doesn't have to be."

But he'd wanted it to be, which was why, after bidding goodnight to his teammates and getting into the truck, he only made it half-way to the flat he shared with Jess before pulling a U turn he was sure wasn't entirely legal so he could change direction.

The movement of the truck woke Jess, who smiled at him sleepily, her eyes bright with genuine pleasure at seeing him, before a frown of confusion wrinkled her brow. "Hil? Where are we going?" She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand and looked at him curiously. "The flat's in the other direction."

"We're not going to the flat. Not straight away." Her eyeliner was slightly smudged, her eyes sleepy and there was a crease mark on her cheek from where she'd been resting against the collar of his jacket but Becker thought he'd never seen her look so beautiful. Taking a deep breath to calm the sudden swell of nervous butterflies in his stomach, he reached out to take her hand as he continued driving along the almost empty streets. "There's something I wanted to do tonight. Some where I wanted to take you."

Instead of asking if it could wait, Jess only nodded in response. "Okay." She gave him another smile, one that told him she had no idea what was going on but trusted him completely and was willing to go along with it.

They completed the rest of the journey in silence, and it was only when he pulled up outside the house that Jess's eyes grew wide and she realised where they were.

"This is..."

Leaning towards her, Becker kissed her before she could finish. When he pulled back, he put a finger over her lips to silence her. "Just, don't say anything, okay? Just let me do this."

She nodded in silence and stayed in her seat until he got out of the truck and walked around to her side, opening the door and offering her his hand. Wordlessly, Jess took it and let him lead her up to the door of the house that had once been her home.

* * *

_To be continued in 'Questions'... :)_


	8. Questions

Prompt: Questions  
Rating: T

* * *

They walked in silence through the darkened house. Becker could almost hear the questions whirling around in Jess's mind but she kept quiet, no doubt waiting to see what he had in mind.

He turned to Jess as they approached the back door, gazing at her in the dim light of the room. "Do you trust me, Jessica?"

Jess arched an eyebrow. "Am I allowed to speak to answer that?"

The corners of his mouth twitched and he gave her a small nod. "You're allowed to speak to answer any questions but you can't ask any of your own. Not yet."

"Okay." She rolled her eyes slightly, her smile nervous but genuine. "Well, in that case, yes, I trust you."

"Good." He grabbed the scarf that had been neatly folded on the counter next to the back door, making a mental note to thank Andi for her foresight later. He saw Jess arch an eyebrow when she saw it and realised what he was going to do but, proving she trusted him, she stood still and let him secure the scarf like a blindfold over her eyes.

When he was sure she couldn't see, he turned on the white sparkling fairy lights that had been expertly arranged throughout the garden by his co-conspirators. They illuminated the path leading up to the gazebo in a soft glow, with the newly repaired building and swing itself lit by even more lights.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves before guiding her out into the garden, keeping a tight grip on her so she didn't trip over an uneven flagstone or fall over a wayward branch. When they were standing midway between the house and the gazebo, he checked the ring was still in his pocket and moved to stand in front of her.

His heart began to pound as he lifted hands that weren't quite steady to untie the scarf around her eyes. "Keep your eyes closed," he told her huskily, tucking the scarf into his other pocket before leaning in to kiss her softly.

Jess's lips curled up against his as she responded eagerly, her hands moving to rest against his chest.

For a moment, they just stood there, lost in the moment, both of their hearts racing though only one of them could really explain why.

"Okay." Becker exhaled slowly and slid his hands down her arms so he could take hold of her hands, lacing their fingers together in an effort at keeping his own steady. "You can open your eyes now. But no asking questions. Not yet."

She nodded to show she understood but kept her eyes closed for a few seconds longer. When she opened them, Jess gasped, blinking as she took in the fairytale-esque world he'd created in the garden she remembered so fondly from her childhood.

Her eyes shimmered with tears and her bottom lip trembled but she kept her promise and didn't ask any of the questions that were racing through her mind.

Silently, Becker let go of one of her hands but tightened his hold on the other, leading her towards the gazebo where a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket sat beside two glasses. The ice had all but melted but that he refused to let that worry him as he led Jess to the swing seat and gently ushered her into it.

When she was sitting looking up at him, a question she wouldn't ask aloud on her face, Becker slid the ring box out of his pocket and got down on one knee in front of her. If he wasn't so nervous, he might have laughed at the way her eyes widened in surprise, her lips parting as if to ask him what he was doing. He wasn't sure if the reason she didn't was because she was keeping her promise not to speak or if it was simply because her voice had failed her anyway.

"I know it's only been a year and you'll need time to think about it," he started by saying, holding her gaze no matter how much he wanted to look away. "But the last year has been amazing, the best year of my life, and that's all down to you. If our jobs have taught me anything, it's that tomorrow isn't always guaranteed and if you want something, you should go after it while you can and what I want more than anything is to be with you." He took another deep, stealing breath, exhaling slowly as he opened the ring box. "Marry me, Jessica?"

Jess's wide-eyed gaze dropped from his face to the ring, and then rose again. A lone tear slid down her cheek and she reached out to touch his, fingertips soft against his face as she leaned towards him. "You're wrong that I need time to think about it," she told him softly, her smile as bright as any of the dozens of fairy lights around them. "There's nothing I want more than to marry you, Hilary Becker."

Relief made him giddy and he fumbled with the ring, making her laugh softly when it took two attempts at getting it on her finger. When it slid into place, he didn't give her time to admire it, rising to kiss her deeply, his hands cupping her face tenderly.

"I love you," Jess murmured when they parted enough to speak. "And I can't believe you went to all of this trouble... How did you get the owners of the house to agree...?"

"Ah." Becker pulled away slightly, a wry grin on his face as he moved to sit on the swing-seat beside her. "That's actually part two of the question."

"Part two?" She looked at him in confusion, quirking an eyebrow when he looked from her to the house in front of them and back again. "I don't understand...?"

"Your brother helped me find it. I thought I'd find out if we could get married here before I asked you. If nothing else, it might've been what swayed you into saying yes," he admitted, ducking his head sheepishly when she rolled her eyes. "When I got here, I noticed a 'For Sale' sign in the garden. I've talked to the owners and the estate agent and it's ours, if you want it. I haven't made an offer yet but the owners agreed not to accept any others until I'd talked to you."

"We could live here?" She clasped his hand tightly, her eyes growing wide again as she looked toward the house where all of her happy childhood memories had taken place. The house where her parents had begun their lives together, where they'd started their family and lived happily until the day it had all been cruelly snatched away from them. "But..."

"We don't have to," Becker told her quietly, mistaking her hesitation for reluctance. "I just thought if you wanted, we could. I don't mind where we live, Jess, as long as we're together and you're happy. If you just want to be married here, I'm sure we could arrange something with the new owners."

He suddenly found himself with his arms full, his girlfriend – no, his _fiancée_, a smug little voice at the back of his mind corrected – kissing him passionately, making him loose his train of thought.

"I can't believe you did this," Jess said softly when she pulled away, her cheeks flushed and her breathing as uneven as his. "You are without a doubt the sweetest, kindest, most amazing man..." Her smile widened when he felt his cheeks flood with equal parts pleasure and embarrassment. When he looked away, she lifted her hand to his cheek and made him turn back to face her. "As much as I would love to start our lives together in this house, I can only do that if it's what you really want, Hil. You've done so much for me, to make me happy. You have to be happy, too, or it's pointless. You keep making these amazing gestures to show me how you feel and I can't help but think I'm not doing enough to show you."

A slight frown marred his brow as he looked at her, eyes dark with emotion he tried so vehemently to keep the rest of the world from seeing. "You show me every day," he told her quietly, seriously. "I've done things that I'm not proud of, Jess. I've seen things..." He swallowed against the memories, both of his time at the ARC and before, the Special Forces missions he was almost relieved he couldn't tell her about. "You make it bearable. Soldiers can burn out. Some of them can't live with what they've done or the memories of what they saw other people do. _You_ make it possible for me to do that."

"Becker." Her eyes began to shimmer again, with sympathy and love and understanding. It was Jess's turn to take a deep breath, her gaze falling momentarily to the ring sparkling on her finger. A smile almost as dazzling lit up her face as she looked up at him. "Will you live here with me? Will you help me make it home again?"

He returned her smile with one of his own and drew her against him with an arm around her shoulders as they sat on the swing-seat and stared at the house that would be their home. "There's nothing I'd like more."

* * *

_That scene that I mentioned in the 'House' chapter? That's this scene in the garden, with the fairy lights and the proposal.  
Apologies for the late posting of this chapter; my health is not what it should be at the moment so doing even the simplest of things, like booting up the laptop, is proving to be absolutely exhausting. _


	9. Preparations

Prompt: Preparations  
Rating: K+

* * *

The morning after their anniversary was a little bit surreal.

In one way, nothing had changed and in another, everything had.

Despite having had a late night given the unexpected anomaly alerted, planned proposal and joint celebration for their anniversary and engagement, Jess and Becker reluctantly disentangled themselves when the alarm went off and followed their usual work day morning routine.

It was a damn shame, Becker thought as he listened to the sound of Jess drying her hair while he waited for the coffee to finish brewing, that their anniversary had fallen on a weekday, rather than a weekend. There was nothing he'd like more than to spend the day making plans for their impending wedding and move to their new house – or at least, there was nothing he'd like more than to lie in bed with Jess in his arms, listening to her make plans for their wedding and move to their new house.

Though even if it was a weekend, chances of them being able to spend it alone would have been slim. Not after word got out that...

As if on cue, the four retro telephones began to ring. Knowing that it made no difference which one he answered and that Jess wouldn't be able to hear the ringing above the hair dryer, Becker abandoned his wait for the coffee and picked up the receiver belonging to the 'J' phone. "Hello?"

"Hil? Did you ask her? Did she say yes?" The volume of his little sister's voice along with the high-pitched excitement made him wince and want to hold it away from his ear. "Hilary Becker, answer me now!"

Rolling his eyes though he couldn't quite keep a small grin from arranging his lips, Becker caught himself nodding before he remembered she couldn't see him. "I asked her, she said yes. Congratulations, Rachel, you're getting the big sister you've always wanted."

His dry tone was lost on her as she squealed in his ear down the phone. Becker moved the receiver away for a few moments, waiting until the excited babble settled to an acceptable volume. "... so can I?"

"Can you what?"

Rachel heaved an exasperated sigh in his ear just as Jess appeared in his line of sight. His fiancée – and no, he wasn't going to get tired of thinking that anytime soon – arched an eyebrow in question, smiling when he mouthed his sister's name at her. "Can I tell Mum and Dad? Or do you want to do it? Because if you do, you have to do it soon because I'm supposed to go down for breakfast any minute now and I can't promise that I won't be able to blurt it out. It's so exciting! Is Jess there? Has she thought about her dress? Or when you're getting married? Are you going to wait until next summer or...?"

"Rachel. Please." He closed his eyes and rubbed his head with the hand that wasn't holding the phone. The headache he could feel brewing had less to do with the champagne he and Jess had consumed the night before and more to do with the incessant chattering in his ear. "You can tell Mum and Dad if you have to." They, like most of the people in his life, had already known he'd planned to propose to Jess the night before. "And I don't know if Jess has thought about her dress. Probably," he added on seeing the soft smile on Jess's face as she approached him with a cup of coffee – in his World's Best Uncle mug – that he accepted gratefully.

"Do you want me to talk to her so you can finish getting ready?" Jess asked him quietly, slipping an arm around his middle.

What he wanted was to hang up the phone on his sister's well-meaning interrogation and take full advantage of the ten minutes he and Jess had managed to shave off their morning routine by sharing no more than a few heated kisses in the shower but he knew better than to think they could get away with it.

Jess Parker could be too tempting a distraction at times and the last thing he wanted to do was end up being late for work and have to put up with the knowing smirks and nudges of his teammates and soldiers all day.

Without really listening to what Rachel was saying, he held the phone out to Jess but stole a quick kiss before she could take it from him, smirking when she blushed and pushed him away. He caught her hand against his chest as she lifted the receiver to her ear, admiring the ring that adorned her finger and the way it looked just right.

"Hi Rachel, how are you?" Jess pulled her hand away with a stern look that made his smirk widen even as he left her to finish getting ready.

He half-listened to the one-sided conversation, enough to be aware that his sister was interrogating Jess – both on how he'd proposed and what ideas she already had for the wedding – and enough to know that Jess was holding her own against his sister's constant stream of questions, giving enough detail to satisfy Rachel's curiosity but not so much that his sister knew everything.

Jess hung up as he sat down to lace up his boots, only to sigh when the phone almost immediately began to ring again.

"How much are you willing to bet it's Andi?" Jess asked him, already reaching for the phone.

"Since Abby and Emily will no doubt be waiting to ambush us when we get to work, that's not a bet I'm going to take." Becker watched her pick up the receiver, saw the smile light up her face even as she rolled her eyes in confirmation that the caller was her sister-in-law.

"I can't talk long, Andi," Jess was saying as he finished lacing up his boots and got to his feet. "No, we've got to be at work. Well, if I'd know what was going on, I might've been tempted to put in for a days holiday..." She laughed at whatever her sister-in-law said, her cheeks flushing bright red. "We still managed to celebrate quite well, thank you very much," she told Andi in a prim-and-proper tone of voice that made him grin. "And no doubt we will later on, too," she added with a wicked smile of her own. "Can I call you later? As soon as we get home, I promise. Okay. Love you, too. Give my love to the kids – Davey included. Bye."

With an exasperated sigh so much like his own when he'd been talking to his sister, Jess hung up and stared at the phone as though she expected it to start ringing again.

"We should make a break for it while we can," he told her, only half jokingly. "Though there'll just be more questions when we get to the ARC."

"Questions we don't have answers to yet," Jess added, though the look of determination that flittered across her face told him they would do soon.

She slipped her feet into the high heels waiting by the door as he grabbed his jacket and keys. She had to run back up into the living room to grab her handbag, giving him a chance to admire the way her legs looked in her heels and her sense of balance at running on wooden floors in such impractical shoes and then they were off, heading for work as though nothing was different.

* * *

The conversation in the car on the way to work was a change, though, with Jess taking a small notepad out of her handbag as he drove. She had a determined expression on her face, a look of intense concentration he was used to seeing her wear as she puzzled over a glitch in the ADD system at the ARC.

As soon as she started to speak, he understood why and realised they'd have some answers to the questions their families and friends were going to ask sooner than he'd been expecting.

The first thing they decided on was when they were going to move from the flat into their new house. The short answer was: as soon as possible. They were in the fortunate position of being able to do so before they found a buyer for their flat, given that they had the money saved from the sale of his flat as their deposit and the current owners of the house had already moved out.

Jess took details of the estate agents from him, writing them down in impossibly neat handwriting given she was in a moving vehicle, and making plans to call them over lunch to discuss how soon they could have the keys to the property released to them.

Once that was decided, it was time to set a date for the wedding – something Becker wasn't complaining about, though he hadn't really expected to be discussing such a thing after being engaged for less than twelve hours. That was his Jess, though. Organised and detail-orientated through and through.

"Do you want to wait until next year?" Jess asked him quietly, tapping her pen against the notepad as she looked at him. "If you want to take some time to get used to the idea, we could always try to arrange it for next summer?"

Something in the way she mentioned it told him she maybe didn't want to wait so long, something he agreed with given that with their jobs, they didn't necessarily have the luxury of any plans they made going ahead no matter how far in advance they made them.

"It depends how soon you think we can get it all arranged." He reached across the gear stick to take her hand, running his thumb over the ring on her finger. "If you want a summer wedding, we'll have a summer wedding. If you want to get married next week and think we can get everything sorted in time, let's do it."

She gave him a brilliant smile and used her free hand to push a strand of hair behind her ear. "What about an autumn wedding? Mid autumn, so the weather should still be good but everything will be starting to change colour?"

Given that it was almost September already, Becker frowned. "Can we get everything arranged in time? Didn't it take four months for Abby's dress to get sorted?"

"Because it wasn't standard," Jess pointed out, dropping his hand so she could start making more notes on a fresh page. "She didn't want a traditional dress so we had to shop around a little more than we might've done. Though when Andi got married, it did take three months for the shop to order the dress in her size." She bit down on her bottom lip and scribbled something else down. "I'll go shopping at the weekend," she decided. "See if any of the girls want to join me. It'll give us a better idea of how long it'll take."

"Somehow, I don't think you're going to be short of volunteers for people to go with you," he said wryly, knowing his mum and sister would no doubt be first in line, alongside Andi. Abby and Emily, he suspected, wouldn't be far behind. "We need to think about where we're going to hold the reception, too. A lot of places will be booked up already and we can't have everyone we'll have to invite at the house."

With a sigh because she knew he was right, Jess nodded. "We should probably put together a guest list so we know what numbers we're looking at. I've got a couple of uni friends I'd like to be at the reception, and there's quite a few people from the ARC we should invite." She glanced at him with a curious look on her face. "Is there anyone else you want at the ceremony? Other than our immediate families and the team?"

"Not really." He had friends he'd like at the reception, people he'd served with and their partners, but at the ceremony itself, he was quite content to have a smaller audience. "I can think of a dozen or so people I'd like to be at the reception, though."

"We can make a list tonight," she suggested, closing the notepad and slipping it back into her handbag. "Once that's done, we can start looking at venues to see if we can find somewhere available at short notice."

Despite the magnitude of the task ahead of them, his fiancée looked happy. Content, even.

Becker swallowed a grin and tried to focus his full attention on the road ahead, thinking that he felt quite content himself.

* * *

They were right to expect an eager audience waiting for them when they got to the ARC. The newly engaged couple barely had time to say goodbye before Jess was being ushered to the hub by Emily and Abby, both of whom wanted to know all of the details despite having been part of Becker's preparations in the first place.

According to Connor, his wife hadn't been able to sleep after getting a late night text from Jess confirming that the proposal had taken place despite the anomaly interruption, wanting to know exactly what had taken place – and wanting to finally see the ring, which Becker had been careful to keep to himself.

News spread like wildfire, as he was expecting it to. Throughout the course of the day, he had several people stop by the armoury to extend their congratulations to him. He had to endure the knowing looks and smirks from his soldiers when he caught himself grinning just at the thought of her and was already making plans in his head as to how to make the next lot of security drills even harder on them as revenge.

He had to put up with the dreamy-eyed smiles and glances from the women he worked with, who'd no doubt heard some details of the proposal through the grapevine, though couldn't bring himself to mind that when the biggest smile of all came from Jess when she met him in the break room for lunch.

Instead of discussing their engagement and the wedding, though, the top of conversation was the house they would be moving into. There was no shortage of volunteers to help them box up their belongings and transport them from the old flat to the new house when Jess returned after making a brief but informative phone call to the estate agents with bright, excited eyes and an announcement they could complete as soon as they got their finances in place and a survey of the property done.

It would take a few weeks at least but the owners had agreed to let them begin to move their things into the house, having developed a soft spot for the couple after their conversations with Becker. They were thrilled to hear that Jess had accepted his proposal and were looking forward to meeting them in person.

"You seem remarkably calm," Matt commented as he and Becker walked back towards the armoury after lunch was done. The team leader had made an excuse about needing to discuss the upcoming drills with the Head of Security though he was obviously taking the opportunity to make sure his Second-in-Command wasn't overwhelmed with the many changes that he'd soon be facing.

"You'd prefer it if I wasn't?" Becker gave him a shrug when Matt just stared at him. "I'm fine, Matt."

After a moment of studying him, Matt nodded. "You look it. You look relaxed. More than you did yesterday, anyway."

"Yesterday, I was planning to propose to my girlfriend," Becker reminded him as they entered the armoury. "Today, I've got a fiancée."

And damn if he didn't sound as proud as he felt when he said it.

It must've been obvious, too, as Matt grinned at him, shaking his head. "You're not going to go all soft on us now, are you? One love struck fool is enough on the team; I don't need you turning into the new Connor."

"I can still do my job," Becker said mildly. He prided himself on being able to maintain his professionalism despite his relationship with Jess; he'd managed over the course of the last year and was confident he'd still be able to do so. Of course, it helped that Jess wasn't in the field with them and that was a luxury Connor didn't have. Nor did Matt, though the team leader's relationship with Emily was still undefined and definitely not up for discussion. "I won't let you or the team down."

"I know." The humour faded from Matt's eyes as he met Becker's look with a serious one of his own. "I'm not implying that you will. I'm happy for you, Mate. For both of you."

Since the armoury was deserted, Becker stopped and turned to face his friend and teammate, his brow furrowed. "Is there something going on?"

From the way Matt hesitated, Becker guessed that the answer was yes. Unfortunately, his timing was wrong and some of his men chose that moment to return. "Nothing's going on that I know about," Matt said eventually, shrugging when Becker only stared at him. "So, about these drills."

Becker allowed him to change the subject but promised himself he'd follow through on the conversation. He had too many good things planned for the future to run the risk of more secrets getting in the way.

* * *

By the end of the third week of their engagement, with Jess's flare for organising and being able to see the big picture along with the little details, they were decided on a guest list and had settled on a venue for the reception. It was a venue that had made Margaret Becker cry when they'd suggested it, embracing both her son and her future daughter-in-law for several moments before giving the idea her approval, much to Jess's relief.

Becker could tell that his father, too, had been touched by their choice in reception venue and had made sure Jess was aware of how much he appreciated her for thinking of it.

The hotel was just outside of the city, grand but not too expensive – they had a budget they wanted to stick to given that they were moving house, too, and though his parents had offered to contribute, the couple were determined to pay for as much of it as they could themselves. It wasn't really the location, though, that had made them settle on the hotel as their reception – it was the fact that the hotel was the very one in which Becker's parents themselves had been wed.

Jess had come up with the idea in the middle of the night, wanting to do something that would involve his parents as much as hers were. The following morning, Becker had called his father to get the details and after a long but thankfully quiet day at work, the engaged couple had made the drive out of the city to the hotel and had left an hour later after signing on the dotted line when they'd found out it was available on the last Saturday in October.

Venues sorted, guest list agreed and date set, there were only a few preparations left to arrange for the wedding: flowers, photographer and, Jess's opinion, the most important of all: finding the perfect dress to wear on her perfect day.

* * *

_To be continued in 'dress' - and yes, I'll post a link at the end of the chapter to the dress in question._


	10. Dress

Prompt: Dress  
Rating: T

* * *

Becker was proven to be right, not for the first time, when Jess announced to their family and friends that she was going to go shopping for her wedding dress. No sooner had she spoken, she was overwhelmed by suggestions of what kind of dress would suit her and people volunteering to go with her to find the perfect one.

Since the ceremony was going to be so small with only their closest friends and family in attendance, the couple had decided against officially having bridesmaids and grooms men. Davey was going to give her away and Lester had been sweet talked into conducting the ceremony by Jess, who'd thanked him with a tearful hug when he agreed.

Lizzie would be flower girl, just because the little girl wanted to be a princess for the day and neither her aunt nor uncle could deny her that. Tom, so he didn't feel left out, would be the ring bearer and would carry the wedding bands Becker and Jess had already commissioned from the same jewellers who'd made her engagement ring.

The others would be the only guests invited to witness the ceremony. Jess had worried at first that her friends would be insulted that they weren't officially being given a role to play in the wedding but they'd all assured her that being asked to be part of it by being invited to attend was involvement enough.

In the absence of her own mother, Jess had invited Eleanor Lester and Margaret to come with her in her search for a wedding dress. The two women had been touched to be asked and had agreed to meet the younger women later in the afternoon after Jess had narrowed her choices down to her favourite gowns.

There were three dresses her friends had chosen for her, after visiting four different shops. The styles were quite different but all three suited her though she couldn't make her mind up as to which one was "the one". It was then that Margaret and Eleanor were called and asked to join them so they could lend their opinion to the undecided bride to be.

The first was a classic ball gown wedding dress in crisp white satin, chosen for her by Abby. It flared at the hips and blossomed into a full skirt of layers of fabric, with sparkling stones and sequins that glinted in the light. It had off-the-shoulder straps, a lace up bodice at the back and made her feel like a fairytale princess... but not necessarily a bride.

She stood in front of the full length mirror and listened to the admiring words and gasps of the women around her. She tried it both with and without a veil, with a small tiara and a bigger one. She kept still as Andi and Rachel played with her hair, testing what it looked like when it was up and when it was down but still couldn't see herself walking down the end of the garden towards Becker in the dress.

"It's lovely," Margaret told her, coming to stand behind her at the mirror while the younger women discussed which hair style would work best with the fancy gown. "But you don't look comfortable in it."

"It's amazing," Jess murmured, turning to see the back of the dress, feeling the skirts swish around her legs. "But it's a bit big for a small wedding, isn't it? I think I'd feel silly wearing something so fussy for such a small ceremony."

Margaret patted her shoulder and smiled at her in the mirror. "Try on the next dress, sweetheart. You'll know when you've found the right one."

The second dress she came out in was a definite no. Jess had had her doubts when she'd first tried it on but had allowed herself to be swayed by the others, notably Rachel who'd said it looked very classic and sophisticated.

It was ivory in colour, strapless, with a fishtail skirt. The material, raw silk, clung to her curves until it flared out at the bottom.

Jess stood in front of the mirror, critically staring at her reflection.

It did look pretty – much nicer on than it had been on the hanger – but she knew it wasn't the dress for her. Besides, the skirt along with the heels she was so very fond of would be a trip hazard and the last thing she wanted to do was fall over and make an idiot of herself at the wedding reception when she and Becker danced for the first time in front of their almost a hundred guests.

"No." Eleanor shook her head after exchanging a long look with Margaret. "It's very nice, but it's not for you, Jessica. You're fidgeting and you've only been standing there for a few minutes."

"You do look like you can't wait to get out if it," Emily chimed in sympathetically.

"Isn't that what she's supposed to want to do on her wedding day?" Abby teased lightly, wanting to take the pressure off the frustrated bride-to-be.

Jess blushed in response to the comment but felt her eyes well with tears. "None of them feel right," she said to no one in particular. "It just doesn't feel right."

As she was ushered back into the changing room to try on the third dress, Jess let the first tear fall and admitted to herself that it didn't feel right because her own mother wasn't there with her.

When she was a little girl, she'd always imagined that Elizabeth Parker would be the one standing with her while she chose her wedding dress. She'd always envisioned standing in front of a mirror with her mum standing behind her, blinking back tears as they stared at their reflections and then laughed at themselves for being so silly and sentimental.

She hadn't realised how important that dream had been to her until now and it was the one dream that Becker, no matter how lovely he was, couldn't help make come true.

She didn't make it out of the dressing room in the third dress, picked out by both Emily and Rachel. After trying it on again – halter-neck with an A-line skirt in brilliant white with crystals adorning the bodice – Jess just knew it wasn't right. It was gorgeous and she loved the way it felt but it wasn't the dress she wanted to be wearing when she said her vows.

After insisting that it wasn't the right one, she let the assistant help her out of the gown and started to get dressed in her regular clothes, deciding the day was a failure and she'd have to try again. She was almost completely dressed when the curtain to the changing area moved and Andi stepped in with a new dress in her hands.

"I was looking through the racks again and I found this," her sister-in-law explained with a soft smile. "Everyone agrees that you should try it on. It's different to the ones you've tried on already today but I think that might be a good thing."

The dress was certainly lighter than the others, Jess thought as she took it and hung it up. It looked nice on the hanger, but not necessarily one she would have picked. Instead of the assistant coming back to help her in it, Andi lingered in the changing room, helping her step into the delicate chiffon gown and zipping it up at the back.

Jess stared at her reflection and swallowed the lump in her throat. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away before looking at Andi, smiling at the stunned expression on her sister-in-law's face.

"You look beautiful," Andi murmured, fussing unnecessarily with the flowing material of the skirt before settling her hands on Jess's shoulders. "Oh, Jess. Your mum would be so proud to see you like this."

"I know." Jess took a deep, unsteady breath, lifting her hand to cover Andi's. "I just wish she was here. I thought I was prepared to do this alone but I'm not."

"You are not alone." Mindful of the dress, Andi moved her hands so she could hug her sister-in-law gently. "Your mum might not be here but you've got a room full of women out there who love you, and a fiancé who couldn't be more devoted."

Jess nodded her agreement, the ache in her heart soothed a little by the knowledge that it was true. She turned her attention back to her reflection and squared her shoulders. "I think this is the one," she declared, admiring the sway of the material as she moved. "It feels like the one," she added quietly, picturing her mother standing on her other side in the mirror, nodding in approval, before imagining Becker's response to seeing her walk towards him in the dress. "It's the one."

Andi smiled at her and moved back towards the curtain. "Let's show the others, then."

There was silence when she stepped out of the changing area. Margaret clasped a hand to her mouth, her eyes bright with tears. Eleanor beamed at her and nodded her head. Rachel squealed and clapped her hands together. Abby and Emily exchanged soft smiles and leaned into each other, their expressions admiring.

The dress was a hit.

Strapless, it showed off the elegant line of her neck and soft curve of her shoulders. It was empire style, white, with a sweetheart neckline. The top of the dress was decorated with embroidered flowers and crystals, a theme that was continued with a medium sized flower detail on the belt before giving way to a flowing skirt of light chiffon that floated around her legs and tapered off into a short train.

It was elegant but girly, pretty without being too fussy.

She wouldn't need a veil, Jess decided, agreeing with the majority decision of the women dispensing advice and giving her suggestions, and she'd wear a small tiara with crystals at the centre of each of the small silver daisies adorning it. Her hair would be partly pinned up but mostly allowed to flow in loose curls around her shoulders. She'd wear the sapphire necklace Becker had bought her for Christmas, alongside the earrings that had belonged to her mother that he'd had repaired, which would be her something old and something blue.

Her dress, _the dress_, would be perfect as her something new.

* * *

_Jess's dress, which I have managed to fall completely in love with: (no spaces) www. hitched (dot co dot uk) /wedding-dresses/berketex-bride/noella-by-rosetta- nicolini/ (and yes, I know realistically the dress should've been bought at least eight months in advance of the wedding to allow for creation/delivery/fittings – I worked in a bridal shop for a summer as a teenager. Best summer job ever! But, anyway, we'll forget that fact for the sake of the story ;))_

_To be continued in 'Separation'... Uh-oh..._

_And thank you to everyone for the lovely reviews and comments - and apologies to my fellow writers, as I'm terribly behind on reading/reviewing at the moment. Hugs to you all xx_


	11. Separation

Prompt: Separation  
Rating: T

* * *

It didn't seem possible that October had arrived and, with it, their wedding.

September had passed in a blur of activity. They'd moved into their new home with the help of their friends and had finalised plans for the wedding around their busy working days. The anomalies that had eased off in the aftermath of convergence seemed to be back to normal – whatever normal was where anomalies were concerned. No one else seemed worried by the shift in routine, though Matt continued to avoid the subject whenever Becker broached it.

It wasn't until the eve of his wedding to Jess that Becker got the answers he'd been waiting for – answers he wasn't sure he wanted.

The tradition of the bride and groom spending the night before the wedding apart was one both Jess and Becker would have quite happily ignored. Unfortunately for them, it was a tradition their friends and family insisted on since neither of the pair had wanted a stag or hen night nor had they really had time to organise one in the short run up to the wedding.

Eventually, Jess agreed to stay at home, accompanied by the women who'd become family, while Becker was almost forcibly removed from his fiancée's side by his teammates. He was taken to Matt's flat, where the others staying over planned to take full advantage of the team leader's specially stocked bar.

Connor and Davey were embracing their night of freedom from their wives and seemed to have made it their personal mission to try and make Becker squirm by constantly reminding him it was his last night as a free man. Connor even joked that he'd help him flee the country if he'd changed his mind; his drinking buddy, Davey, had cheerfully replied that if they tried, he'd quite happily break both of their legs.

Lester and Becker's father were quite content to sit apart from the younger generation, slowly but steadily making their way through the bottle of whiskey Lester had managed to smuggle out of his house without his wife, Eleanor, noticing.

Matt, Becker noted, was quite subdued and, after his mobile phone was confiscated when they realised he was using it to exchange text messages with Jess – though he suspected hers had also been taken off her due to her sudden lack of response – he decided to corner the team leader and find out what was going on.

The team leader was determined to stay tight-lipped, though. He was still nursing his first beer of the night, almost as if he was afraid drinking too much would make him talkative. As the others joked and teased the soon-to-be newlywed, Matt disappeared outside onto the balcony.

It was there Becker found him, brooding as he stared out over the city after the others had become engrossed in a computer game tournament Connor had insisted upon. Becker approached cautiously, leaning on the railing beside Matt in silence for a few moments.

"When are you going to tell me what's going on, Matt?"

Instead of answering straight away, Matt took a swig from his bottle. "Don't you think you've got enough to focus on? You're getting married tomorrow."

"Which is why I need to know if there's something going on." Becker stared at Matt until the other man had no choice but to look back at him. "If we're facing another end of the word scenario, I'd like to know, Matt. I can't do my job if I don't."

"Your job as Head of Security or Jess's husband?" Matt's attempt at a smile fell flat, his eyes growing solemn. "Would it make a difference? If you knew the world was going to end, would you still go ahead with it?"

"With marrying Jess? Yes." There was no hesitation on his part, no doubt. "If anything, it'd make me more determined to go through with it."

Matt nodded slowly. "That's good, then. I thought you might want to postpone it till later, deal with the problem first."

"Not if there's a chance dealing with the problem will mean there is no later. And I'm guessing since we're talking about it, there is a problem?" Becker stifled a sigh when Matt said nothing. "Come on, Matt. Didn't last time each you anything? We can't help unless you tell us what's going on."

It took a while, but eventually Matt began to talk. He explained about seeing his doppelgänger at the ARC, explained the cryptic warning he'd received that he had 'to go back.'

Where he had to go back to, though, Matt wasn't sure.

"I don't know if he meant the future or the past or something else entirely." The team leader ran a hand through his hair in obvious frustration. "We haven't had an anomaly to the future since, you know. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad one."

Becker didn't know, either, so couldn't give Matt the reassurances he wanted. He clapped him on the shoulder instead and shook his head. "If it's that serious, surely you would have seen yourself again? He wouldn't stop at one warning, he'd have come back until you listened."

"I don't know, Mate. What if he – I – can't get back? I don't know where he went afterwards. I checked all the security footage. There's no sign of him, no evidence he was ever there in the first place." Matt sighed heavily. "Maybe I imagined the whole thing. It was a stressful time..."

"Maybe, but you don't think so." Neither did he. Nothing in life, especially where anomalies were involved, was ever that easy.

* * *

A problem shared was supposed to be a problem halved. It didn't feel like it.

Long after Connor and Davey had fallen asleep – or passed out, Becker wasn't sure which – and his father and Lester had sensibly retired for the night, Becker stayed awake in the darkened flat, staring out of the window, dwelling on what Matt had told him.

He'd meant what he'd said. If the future was still in jeopardy, he wanted to marry Jess more than ever. He didn't want to put it off, say they'd do it later after the danger had passed just in case one or both of them wasn't around if and when that happened.

But the thought of them getting married, planning on spending the future together only for that future not to exist...

That was why sleep was alluding him, because he couldn't stand the thought of not having the life together they'd planned.

They'd talked about the future since getting engaged and had all sorts of plans he didn't want to think about never becoming reality.

Though they weren't having a honeymoon straight away, having decided to save their money since they had a wedding and a new house to pay for, they had planned to one day to go Italy to see where Jess's mother's family had originally come from. After that, they'd planned to go to Canada and see the Rocky Mountains, something Becker had admitted to having wanted to do since he was a child.

And speaking of children... Yeah, they'd talked about that, too.

Neither of them were ready yet, and both admitted they wanted to take advantage of it just being the two of them for a while, but having children of their own to fill the family sized house they lived in was something they both wanted eventually. They'd even discussed how they'd cope balancing children with their jobs, with Jess suggesting she could do some of her work from home if necessary and Becker admitting that, if and when they had kids of their own, he'd probably want to cut back the hours he spent out in the field and take on more of a consultancy role to try and ensure he was there to see their children grow up.

With Matt's revelation, Becker couldn't help but think there wouldn't be any children to watch grow up. No little girl with her father's brown eyes and her mother's brilliant smile, no little boy with a mass of unruly dark hair and big blue eyes...

Being awake, he didn't jump when his phone started to ring from the cupboard Connor had hidden it in. The dread coiling in the pit of his stomach meant he wasn't surprised when Matt's phone began to ring, too, or when Lester's and Connor's joined in.

All four phones going off at the same time could only mean one thing and it was a grim-faced Lester who stumbled out of the guest bedroom to confirm it: an anomaly had been detected.

Leaving an inebriated Connor at the flat to answer any questions Davey or Colonel Becker might have should they wake up – hopefully, though, not with the truth – Matt and Becker made their way to the coordinates given to them by the reserve Field Co-ordinator. Emily and Abby were apparently on their way, while Jess was left at home, trying to keep her own worries at bay while assuring Margaret, Rachel, Andi and Eleanor that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

Without a word, the two men got to work after checking the ground to make sure nothing had come through. Becker set up the locking device while Matt checked the dating calculator, the latter putting his hand on Becker's shoulder to stop him from locking it when he saw where the anomaly led.

"It's to the future, isn't it?" Becker asked without looking up. He'd half-expected it would be, the knot of dread in his stomach only tightening the closer they'd gotten to it. "You're going through."

"I have to." Matt looked up at the sound of an approaching car, knowing even from a distance that it was Abby and Emily. "I have to know what it's like."

Becker stood up. He reached for his EMD, a sigh escaping him. "Then we should make it quick. They won't be pleased," he added, glancing at the car as it started to slow.

"You're not coming with me." Matt shook his head, his brow furrowed. "Mate, you're getting married tomorrow. Today, even."

"I am, which is why we need to do this now so I'm not late." Becker squared his shoulders and took a step towards the anomaly. "You're not going through alone, Matt, so either we both go now or neither of us does."

As Matt stared at him, looking torn between agreeing and shooting the Captain with his own EMD so he could go through alone, Becker took the decision into his own hands and walked through the anomaly, making a silent promise to Jess that he'd be back.

* * *

Having hurried through the anomaly to avoid a confrontation with their two female teammates, the last thing Matt and Becker had expected to see first on making it through to the other side was Abby and Emily.

Since neither of them looked particularly pleased to see them, Becker half-considered backing through the anomaly to face their wrath in the past – present – instead. The only reason he didn't do that was because one of the people standing behind them caught his eye and she didn't look like she was ready to shoot him.

If anything, Jess appeared to be rather amused at his predicament – as did the man standing beside her.

"So which one of you wants to explain why you decided to be so bloody careless not to mention inconsiderate?" The angry question came from Emily - future Emily – who folded her arms over her chest as she glared at each of them in turn. "You should have known better," she directed towards Matt, "and you!" Turning to Becker, her glare intensified. "_You're_ supposed to be getting married in the morning!"

"There's not really any 'supposed to be' about it, Em," Jess spoke up from where she stood beside himself – his future self. As Becker watched, she gave the man standing beside her a soft smile that felt odd to see being directed at someone else – even if that someone else was him. And with that thought, he felt a headache begin to brew. "You were right when you said she was scary."

"I told you." His future self returned her smile with an unabashedly affectionate grin of his own. "Lester's got nothing on Emily when she's on a roll."

"What were you thinking?" Ignoring the couple behind her though Becker couldn't take his eyes off them, Emily stalked towards the newcomers. They all looked older, Becker thought, with added lines here and there, but somehow didn't look as old as he'd expected when Matt had told him the date. "Seriously, Matt, I understand you being so pigheaded that you'd risk messing everything up by going through the anomaly but to let one of your best friends run the risk of missing his own wedding! That's just selfish!"

Matt held his hands up in submission, managing to finally put the shock behind him and find his voice. "Hey, I don't make him come through. He made that choice himself."

"As if he'd let you go through alone." This from Abby, who tapped her foot against the floor in what could only be a sigh of annoyance. "It's his job to protect the team, Matt. It's not like you could fail to see that he takes it kind of seriously."

There were a dozen if not more questions going through their minds as Matt and Becker exchanged a glance. Where was Matt's future self – and Connor's? Was the future still in danger? Had something changed? Was everything going to be okay or were they still uncertain...?

Fortunately for Matt and Becker, Jess took pity on them and stepped forward, away from her husband's side – and yes, Becker was quick to notice, he was her husband. A wave of relief crashed over him when he saw they were wearing the matching wedding bands he and Jess had picked out almost two months ago.

"Everything's fine," Jess told them, putting a calming hand on Emily's shoulder. "You'll have to forgive Emily, Matt. Emotions are running a little high at the moment." As she spoke, the former Victorian snorted indelicately and Becker noticed her hand drop to cover her stomach for a split-second. Glancing at Matt, he saw his friend seemed oblivious to the gesture. "If Lester hadn't insisted you and Connor be in the meeting with the minister, you'd be here to reassure yourself, Matt."

"I had a message." Matt ran a hand through his hair, unsure how to proceed when faced with a future he'd been hoping for but really hadn't been expecting. His gaze strayed past the women in front of them to the man lingering protectively behind them. "I was told to go back."

"It'll make sense later," Becker heard himself promise. "There's something you have to do –"

"Something we _all_ have to do," Emily interrupted with an indignant huff.

"Something we all have to do," Becker's future self corrected himself with the roll of his eyes. "But it gets done and everything's okay as far as we know."

Matt nodded, some of the tension leaving him but not as much as Becker had hoped. "What is it we need to do? If you tell us now..."

"We can't." Jess smile was apologetic but Becker took note of the shadow that passed over her face and the way both Abby and his future self moved closer to her as if to offer comfort. "But you'll know what you need to do when the time comes." Her gaze flickered towards him for a moment and Becker found himself fighting the urge to go to her and take her in his arms. It wasn't his place to do so, though, not in this time, as he was reminded when his future self put a hand on her shoulder that she covered immediately with her own. "It'll be okay," she said quietly, and he was left with the distinct impression that she was speaking to him.

"You should go back now." His future self said after a moment. "It won't stay open indefinitely and there's somewhere else you really need to be."

Despite Matt's frustration that they weren't being given any detailed information and his own concern that what they had been told implied Jess was somehow involved in whatever had happened, Becker was marginally reassured that the future wouldn't be the nightmare it had once been. Everyone was still alive, for one thing, which could only be a good sign, and he and Jess were still together, still very much in love if the looks they were exchanging were any indication... They'd survive whatever the future had in store for them.

_Together_. Both them as a couple, and the whole group as a team.

"Come on, Matt." He put a hand on Matt's arm and started towards the anomaly. "Time to go home."

Matt turned away with a nod, his shoulders slumping though whether it was with relief or disappointment or maybe just realisation that there'd be an angry Emily and Abby waiting on the other side of the anomaly, too, Becker wasn't sure.

With one last glance at his future, Becker followed, reassured that no matter what happened, he and Jess would be able to see it through.

* * *

_I have an idea for what it is that needs to be done to save the future but I'm not sure if it'll ever be written. It's kind of convoluted and might tie in with Primeval New World now I've got around to seeing it all. Who knows, maybe one day :) For now, this story will be continued in 'Morning'.  
Emelie, I would love to see the picture you've done but not sure how to go about doing what you've asked! If you could upload it to photobucket or something, that would be fab! :)_


	12. Morning

Prompt: Morning  
Rating: K+

* * *

This was _it_.

Her wedding day.

Jess stood at the window overlooking the garden, hands fidgeting with the belt of her dressing gown as she watched the final preparations take place. Most of the work had already been done but the flowers she'd ordered were being delivered and arranged around the gazebo where the ceremony would actually take place, the chairs laid out for the handful of guests who would be their witnesses.

The photographer, a friend of her brother's, was already busy at work, taking before and during shots to go with those he'd take after. He'd already been up to see her this morning to take photographs of her while she sat through her hair and make-up, winking as he offered to stand in if her groom had second thoughts.

Abby and Emily had assured her that would never be the case, though Jess hadn't really believed it would. She'd been hurt and worried when she got the call to say he'd gone through an anomaly with Matt on the day of their wedding and those feelings were only just beginning to subside even though it'd been hours since she'd been told he was back safely and had the situation explained to her.

Most of her anger was now aimed at Matt, for not telling them his concerns in the first place, though she'd been reassured by an irate Emily that the matter had been dealt with. Given the smirk on Abby's face as she'd nodded her agreement, Jess was quite happy to let the matter rest and focus on other things.

Namely, the wedding that was due to start in just an hour's time.

_Her wedding_.

She exhaled slowly, trying to calm the butterflies dancing in her stomach. They weren't caused by nerves; she was almost sure of that. She was excited more than anything – and a little impatient, if she was honest with herself. Now that the day had arrived, she wanted nothing more than to be standing in front of Lester with Becker at her side, exchanging vows and beginning the next chapter in her life.

The knock at the door made her jump and she pressed her hands to her stomach as she turned to face it, calling out for whoever it was to enter.

Expecting one of the women who'd been fluttering around her all morning, she was surprised – pleasantly so – when her brother's face appeared around the door instead.

"Everyone decent in here?" Davey asked with a grin.

"I am." She gave him a bright smile and moved away from the window. "If you're looking for Andi, she was chasing Lizzie last time I saw her."

"I know. I saw her rugby tackle Liz on the second floor. Quite impressive, too." Davey winked and entered the room fully, closing the door behind him. His daughter, having insisted on a pretty dress for the day, did not want to sit still and let her mother braid her hair. "I thought I'd take advantage of the distraction and check on my little sister. You know, while you're still mine to check on."

Jess's smile softened at the touch of seriousness in his tone, shaking her head gently so as not to disturb the expertly styled curls bouncing around her shoulders too much. She crossed towards him and held out a hand. "I'll still be yours to check on after today. Me getting married doesn't change that at all."

"No, but you won't need me to fight your battles after today. Not that you ever did, really." He took her hand and used it to draw her against him, enveloping her in a careful embrace. "I can't believe it. My little sister's all grown up."

"I've been grown up for a while, Davey." Still, she wrapped her own arms around him and nestled her head against his shoulder. "I'll always need you to be my overprotective big brother, though. No matter how old I get."

"I think your husband's going to do a pretty good job of protecting you himself." Davey pulled away just enough to brush his lips over her forehead. "He's a good bloke, Jess. I'm happy for you."

"I'm happy for me, too." She lingered for a few moments more before stepping back but kept hold of his hand. "How was he this morning? Not too hung over?" She was careful not to make a reference to the anomaly that morning, having been informed by Connor via Abby that her brother had slept through her fiancé's short absence.

Davey shook his head, adopting an almost disappointed look. "Nope. Barely touched a drop. Connor and I decided that once you're married, we're going on a lad's night out with the sole intention of getting your husband wasted. It'll be a challenge but I'm always up for one of those."

Rolling her eyes at the thought though pleased that he liked Becker enough to want to, Jess folded her arms over her chest. "If you succeed, make sure you help him find his way home in one piece or you'll have me and Andi to deal with."

"I'll do my best," he promised with a wink. He stared at her for a few minutes more, his expression growing serious again. "Mum and Dad would be so proud of you," he told her quietly, squeezing her hand. "They'd approve of him, you know. And they'd be so proud to see their little girl all grown up."

She smiled but for a moment couldn't speak past the lump in her throat. "I hope you're right. I just wish they could've been here. I wish they could've met him."

"They'd approve," Davey repeated, smiling gently. "Dad would've interrogated him, of course, and probably given him some stick for having a girl's name but he'd have liked the way it's obvious Hil will do whatever it takes to make you happy and keep you safe. And Mum… Well, given how smitten the rest of the women in this family are with him, I don't think there'd be any problems there. She'd probably have fallen for him herself, if only for the way he takes care of her baby."

Having thought it herself and hearing it from someone else who'd known her parents as well as she did were two different things. Jess felt her eyes sting with tears and blinked to try and clear them. "If I cry and ruin my make-up, you'll be in the doghouse for a week," she warned him only half-jokingly, pulling her hand away so she could run her fingers under her eyes to catch the tears before her mascara could smudge.

"You'll look beautiful even if you are doing a decent panda impression," her brother teased affectionately. A knock at the door had the siblings turning to it as it opened, both of them smiling when Andi appeared, followed by Margaret.

"We need to get the bride dressed," Andi declared. "Which means you get to be on babysitting duty."

"Has Lizzie let you do her hair?" Jess asked with an arched eyebrow as her brother gave an exaggerated groan.

Andi rolled her eyes. "Not me. _Rachel_, yes. She's sitting at the dining room table making a liar of me, looking like butter wouldn't melt while Rachel finishes up. She said if you couldn't do it, Auntie Rachel had to."

"I _could_ have done it," Jess pointed out. "I really wouldn't have minded."

"It's your wedding day, Jessica. The one day where you don't have to do anything but sit and let everyone else around you worry about the details." Margaret's tone was firm but her smile was affectionate and her eyes suspiciously bright. "Now. Let's get you dressed before my son gets here, hmm?"

Davey exchanged a look with his sister before backing towards the door. He was stopped by his wife, who gave him a tender smile before kissing him quickly. "I'll be back when they're ready for you," he promised his little sister, flashing her a grin when she only nodded and bit her lip. "It's going to be perfect, Jess. You'll see."

Once he was gone, Jess turned to face her sister-in-law and mother-in-law to be with an excited smile and happy flush to her cheeks. "Okay." She exhaled slowly and smiled at the two women beside her. "Let's do this."

* * *

_*does a little squeeful hand clap* Oh, so I'm a little bit excited. Sorry! ;)  
To be continued in 'Ceremony', after which there will only be two little parts left! _


	13. Ceremony

Prompt: Ceremony  
Rating: K+

* * *

He stood at the end of the garden, trying to fight back a grin. From the expression on Lester's face, Becker was almost certain he wasn't succeeding.

But he couldn't bring himself to mind.

He was surrounded by the people he cared about most, waiting for the woman he loved to join him so they could be married. If that wasn't a reason to grin like an idiot, Becker wasn't sure what was.

The music began to play – a playlist Jess had remembered to compile at the last minute – and he turned around when he heard the rustle of material signifying that the others had stood. Lizzie and Tom appeared first, holding hands as instructed by their mother as they walked from the back door down the garden towards the gazebo.

In her pretty dress of pale yellow, Lizzie beamed at everyone and did a little skip, swinging the small basket of petals Jess had arranged for her to have to make the little girl feel as though she really had a role to play at the ceremony. She seemed to have forgotten she was supposed to sprinkle the petals on the ground as she walked but no one was going to complain, not when she smiled so brightly and waved enthusiastically when she noticed she was the centre of attention.

Beside her, her little brother was focusing intently on his task of keeping the rings – already secured with ribbon but Becker suspected Tom hadn't been told that – on the small cushion someone had produced from somewhere for the duty. In contrast to his sister, Tom was too busy taking his role seriously to notice the adults in attendance were watching him with smiles on their faces – that was until he got to the gazebo and was stopped by his sister, and then he grinned proudly and turned to his mum to declare quite loudly that "I didn't drop them once, Mummy!"

And then it was Jess's turn.

Becker swallowed reflexively on seeing her, his breath catching in his throat. For the first time since they'd started talking wedding plans – since he'd started thinking about them – he almost wished they'd chosen to have a bigger ceremony, with a proper aisle for her to walk down. He certainly would have no objections to being able to watch her walk towards him for a little longer, anyway.

The dress she wore was perfect for her but it wasn't the first thing he noticed. It was the smile on her face, the blush in her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes. The very things he'd first noticed about the Field Co-ordinator at their first meeting.

"You look beautiful," he told her quietly when she and Davey stopped beside him.

As he'd expected – and hoped – her blush deepened and a shy smile curled up the corners of her mouth. "You don't look so bad yourself," she returned, biting her lip in a way that made him think he'd maybe missed her appraisal of him in his dress uniform as he'd been too busy taking his fill of her.

Lester cleared his throat and arched an eyebrow when they looked at him. "If you're finished being nauseating, we'll begin?"

After a few eye rolls, chuckles and another blush from Jess, Lester began performing the ceremony. He stood in front of them, doing his best to maintain his professional distance but unable to keep the pride or emotion from his voice as the ceremony progressed. "And now I'll invite you to say your vows and seal them with the exchange of the rings you have chosen for one another."

Davey took the rings from his son, untying them deftly from the ribbon on the cushion. He held the first out to Becker, who took it with a hand that wasn't one hundred per cent steady.

At Lester's nod, he turned to Jess and took her hand in his. As he gazed at her and saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes and the smile he knew he was giving her in return, he forgot all about everyone else and focused entirely on the woman in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he recalled the vows he and Jess had chosen and memorised, his voice quiet but steady as he spoke.

"I, Hilary James Becker, take you, Jessica Catherine Parker, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my friend, my partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honour and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

He slid the ring on her finger, not sure whether it was his hands or hers that were shaking. He lifted his free hand to her face to catch the tear that slipped down her cheek, fingertips lingering for a moment before Lester cleared his throat and motioned that it was Jess's turn.

With a soft smile of thanks to her brother, Jess took the ring Davey held out to her and took Becker's hands in hers. She held his gaze as she spoke, her voice trembling as she struggled to keep a grip on her emotions as she recited her vows to him.

"I, Jessica Catherine Parker, take you, Hilary James Becker, to be my lawfully wedded husband, my friend, my partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honour and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

There was a short silence after she'd slid the ring over his knuckle, as both the couple and their guests took a moment to compose themselves. Eventually, Lester cleared his throat – more to compose himself than to regain their attention, Becker suspected – and fixed them both with a solemn look as they turned once again to face him.

"By the power invested in me by the Minister, in the presence of your witnesses, families and friends, it is my pleasure to declare you husband and wife." He waited for a moment, the corners of his mouth twitching as the couple stared at him expectedly. "Yes, yes. This is the moment you get to kiss your bride, Captain. Best not keep the girl waiting."

The sound of Jess's laughter beside him made Becker grin through the mild embarrassment and he turned back to her with a wink. Ignoring everyone else – the sounds of the sniffles from their female audience, the smirks on the faces of their male witnesses – Becker drew Jess into his arms, lifting a hand to touch her cheek.

"I love you," he whispered, lips just a hairsbreadth from hers.

She smiled up at him, her blue eyes luminous. "That's good to know since you're kind of stuck with me now."

And with that, he leaned in to bridge the distance between them, lips claiming hers in their first tender kiss as husband and wife.

* * *

_*passes around a box of tissues* ;)  
Continued in 'Reception'._


	14. Reception

Prompt: Reception  
Rating: T

* * *

After a small drinks reception with their nearest and dearest at the house – and several dozen photographs that they were told just _had_ to be taken – Jess and Becker were finally able to have a moment alone, on the way to the hotel where the main reception would be held. Lester had graciously offered them the use of his car and driver, the latter of whom had put up the privacy screen without needing to be asked.

"Does it feel any different for you?" Jess asked Becker quietly as she cuddled into his side, her head on his shoulder as they were driven towards the hotel. "We've done it. We're actually married now."

Becker shifted to kiss the top of her head, his gaze falling to their joined hands in her lap. The band of his wedding ring glinted up at him but it didn't look out of place or feel odd to be wearing the simple piece of jewellery. If anything, it felt right that he was.

"It's a little different," he admitted just as quietly, almost as if they were afraid that by raising their voices, the magic of the day would be lost.

"Good different?" Pulling away a little, Jess looked at him curiously. "Or bad different?"

"Good different, Jessica." He rolled his eyes and grinned at her. "Only you would have to ask." He ran his fingertip over the two rings she wore on her finger before looking back up at her. "It feels right," he told her softly. "Like we should've done this a long time ago."

Jess laughed lightly and shook her head. "A lot of people probably already think we've done this too fast. Less than eighteen months after our first date and we're already married, living in our second home together…"

"But we're happy, right?" It was his turn to have a fleeting moment of doubt. "You don't wish we'd taken things slower…?"

"We're very happy." Jess cuddled back against him, tilting her head to kiss him sweetly. She lifted her hand to his chest, fingers playing idly with the medals pinned to his uniform jacket. "And if I'd known you looked this handsome in your uniform, I'd have insisted you marry me months ago, Captain. I've got no regrets," she added seriously, smiling when his hand came up to cover hers. "There's no one else I'd rather be married to."

"Likewise." He stole another kiss from her willing lips and settled back to enjoy the rest of the car ride, both aware it would be the last moment of peace and quiet they got for a while.

* * *

On arrival at the hotel, the couple were met by not only the photographer but by a teary eyed Margaret and Colonel Becker, as well. Although the older Becker's had known the reception was going to be held at the same hotel as their own wedding some years before, the fact that Jess and Rachel had conspired to get the décor inside to match as closely as possible with their wedding theme was a complete surprise to them.

And a welcome one, if the bone crushing hug his mother bestowed on Jess was any indication.

"It's wonderful," Margaret gushed, her eyes bright as she was eventually eased out of the embrace by her husband. "It's like stepping back in time. Oh, Jess, thank you. It was a lovely surprise."

"I'm glad you like it." Jess smiled, both pleased and relieved. "The wedding was in memory of my parents. We just wanted to make sure the reception was in honour of you."

"And we're touched by it." Colonel Becker surprised them all by reaching out to embrace his new daughter-in-law, drawing her against him in a firm but gentle embrace. "I've been remiss in saying it sooner, Jessica, but welcome to the family."

Visibly moved, Jess could only smile at him, returning to her husband's side as soon as she was released. A little thrill went through her as she realised that yes, Becker was her husband, and she smiled all the brighter when his hand wrapped around hers as if he had read her thoughts.

There were more photographs, both alone and with the unofficial wedding party, on the steps of the hotel before the couple were allowed to go inside. Seeing the room fully decorated for the first time took second place to their astonishment at the welcome they received from the many friends and family inside it waiting to greet them.

Jess blushed deeply and clung on tighter to Becker's hand at the applause that went up as they were announced on entering the room, her smile shy but her expression pleased. She looked at her husband to see he looked both as sheepish as she felt at having so much attention focused on them, and undeniably proud.

They stopped to say hello to as many people as they could on their way to the top table, taking time out to thank people for attending and graciously accept their best wishes and congratulations. There were a number of their colleagues from the ARC in attendance, a lot of whom they knew were on call but who'd still made the effort to attend, Jess's friends from university and quite a few men and women Becker had served with whom he was pleased to be able to introduce to his new wife.

By the time they made it to their table, their teammates and families were there to greet them, offering much needed glasses of champagne to the bride and groom as someone – Becker suspected Connor – called for a toast.

Following the toast was a demand for the couple to kiss, which they did with identical smiles on their faces, keeping it chaste despite the catcalls and wolf-whistles of the military contingent. Finally able to take their seats, the sit down meal they'd ordered was served and the attention was, thankfully for them, temporarily diverted from the newlyweds.

The atmosphere was light and happy, reminding Becker of the wedding they'd attended not more than a few months before. If Abby and Connor hadn't got married, he wondered as he looked at Jess, would he have realised it was something he wanted, too?

When his bride – his_ wife_ – glanced at him having felt the weight of his stare and smiled sweetly, he told himself that yes, he would have. Eventually.

Giving into the impulse to kiss her because he could, he knew from the blinding flash behind his eyelids that the moment had been caught on camera but couldn't bring himself to mind. Though he wasn't entirely comfortable having his every move recorded as it happened, he was pleased that the very many photographs taken on the day would mean they had something tangible to go alongside their memories when they remembered their wedding day in the future.

* * *

_To be wrapped up in the last chapter, entitled 'Dance'.  
A note for Emelie - I still can't see the picture! Is there a number before the photobucket part of the url? x_


	15. Dance

Prompt: Dance  
Rating: K+/T

* * *

After dinner, there were the obligatory speeches and toasts to the bride and groom. Having not officially had a best man, neither Becker nor Jess had been expecting there to be any speeches though their family and friends had decided to remedy that.

There was a touching but sarcastic speech from Lester, who was taking his role as Jess's surrogate father quite seriously, which went nicely with Davey's speech about some of Jess's embarrassing childhood antics and a warning to Becker that he was the one who now had to deal with his crazy-in-a-good-way little sister. There was a speech from Colonel Becker, short but surprisingly sweet, as he officially – once again – welcomed Jess to the family and said how proud both he and Margaret were of their son and daughter-in-law.

Their teammates, of course, couldn't let the moment pass without saying something.

Matt spoke first, announcing to the whole room that he had known from first meeting that Jess and Becker would end up together. His declaration was supported by a series of cheers and hoots from the ARC staff, most of whom had apparently had the same idea. The team leader went on to tease the couple for taking so long to realise what everyone else had known though he praised them for their relationship at first being the ARC's 'best kept secret' – earning a few snorts from his teammates who knew the truth about the secrets he himself had kept from them over the years.

After Matt, Emily stood to simply wish them well and say how pleased she was that they had found one another. Her speech might have been short but, as she meant every word, it meant the world to the people she made it to.

Connor and Abby stood up together, beginning with a joke about their best man and maid of honour stealing their idea of getting married. Connor spoke about the early days of their friendship with Becker and how 'Action Man' had finally proven he'd deserved the title by acting on his feelings for Jess. Abby mentioned knowing from the first day she and Connor spent back after their 'adventure' away that there was something between the pair, citing Becker getting Jess chocolate – "you've still never bought me chocolate, Becker. Though for future reference: I like mine with mint." – and Jess's over enthusiasm when she'd asked about Becker twice during her initial interrogation of her new flatmates.

Both Becker and Jess were relieved when the speeches were over, as touching as it was to hear from their closest friends. That was until Connor, still holding the microphone supplied by the hotel, announced that it was time for the cake to be cut, after which the couple were expected to share their first dance.

Cutting the cake was a little nerve wracking as far as Jess was concerned. She could direct the ARC teams through the worst situations and stay calm but the thought of accidentally knocking over the two storey cake made by one of Andi's friends for the occasion while trying to cut through the layers made her palms sweat.

Luckily for the nervous bride, her groom's hands were steady on top of hers and they were able to manoeuvre the blade of the knife through the combination of icing and sponge without any catastrophes. They refrained from feeding one another, despite the calls of some of their guests, and almost reluctantly took to the dance floor as the music started playing.

It wasn't that she didn't want to dance with him, Becker knew that. Just as he knew his wife, outgoing and bubbly though she was on the surface, was actually a fiercely private person. Like himself, Jess was quite content to share the attention with others but was a little self-conscious when she was at the centre of it.

He wrapped one arm around her waist, drawing her close, while he clasped her other hand with his and held it against his chest. Jess smiled up at him, her free hand curling around his shoulder as they began to sway slowly in time with the song that had begun playing.

The camera flashes and whispers and murmurs around them seemed to fade away as they held each other close.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look today?" He asked, his voice low so as not to be overheard by their well wishers.

"You might've mentioned it once or twice." Still, she blushed prettily and gazed up at him with open adoration. "Have I mentioned how good you look in your uniform? I really think we should make it a regular thing. It'd be a shame to let it go to waste by leaving it in the back of the wardrobe."

Becker smirked and lowered his head, murmuring his reply close to her ear. "I'll wear the uniform if you wear the dress."

"_This_ dress?"

"Any dress." His lips brushed the shell of her ear and she shivered, glaring at him when he moved back but Becker's smirk only grew wider at her obvious reaction. "You've got at least half a dozen I've not seen you in yet. That's something we need to fix."

"Well, we've got plenty of time to fix it." Her smile was practically giddy, her eyes bright. They had the rest of their lives, however long that turned out to be.

He was quiet for a few moments, and then the corners of his mouth began to twitch again.

"What?" Her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head. "You're thinking something you shouldn't be, Captain."

"I shouldn't be thinking that the best thing about getting dressed up is helping each other get undressed at the end of the night?" He arched an eyebrow when her cheeks flooded with colour. "I'm not allowed to think about undressing my beautiful wife on our wedding night?"

A smile tugged at her lips even as she glanced around to make sure their conversation wasn't being overheard. She was vaguely surprised to see they'd been joined on the dance floor by their guests, having completely missed the end of their first dance and the beginning of their second. "You're allowed to think it, Hil, but you're not allowed to mention it when we can't make our excuses and leave for at least another hour."

"Half an hour," Becker negotiated, glancing around at their guests. "No one will miss us."

"It's _our_ wedding," she reminded him unnecessary, a small laugh escaping her when he just shrugged. "I think someone will notice if we suddenly disappear."

"We're newlyweds," her husband reminded her, letting go of her hand only to wind his other arm around her, bringing her closer. Jess in turn wound hers around his neck, pressing herself close to him. "They're probably expecting it."

Jess just laughed, knowing he could _probably_ talk her into it if he really tried, and leaned up to kiss him, her fingers stroking through his hair as he kissed her back eagerly. The whistles and sighs of those around them went unheard as the couple willing lost themselves entirely to the moment, wordlessly celebrating the beginning of their new lives, together.

* * *

_And there we have it. The end of Milestones III. Thank you all so much for all of the support and feedback, and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have :)  
_


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